Sound of the Revolution
by beakanoma
Summary: In his fifth year, Harry faces ostracism with boyfriend Cedric for coming out and for declaring Voldemort has returned. Part 2 in The Love So Green Collection - SLASH, Harry/Cedric. M for Chapters 01, 03.
1. Feel This

**Title:** Sound of the Revolution, Prologue & Chapter 01  
**Author:** kevo  
**Pairing:** Harry + Cedric. The boys are back.  
**Rating:** mostly PG-13 with a smack of NC-17 thrown in toward the end.  
**Disclaimer:** I do not claim ownership to these characters or the series they're from.  
**Summary:** In his fifth year, Harry faces ostracism with boyfriend Cedric for coming out and for declaring Voldemort has returned. (Order of the Phoenix canon re-write.)  
**WARNING: **Sexual content.

The Love So Green Collection

Playlist #2:

sound of the revolution

**PROLOGUE**

Harry Potter was not normal.

He knew this. He'd always known it, from the time he was little. If he hadn't figured it out on his own, he could've guessed from the way his aunt and uncle recoiled from him, or the way his own cousin beat on him, or the way the other children looked at him strangely.

Even after discovering he was a wizard, there was still something about him that was distinctively different from the other witches and wizards at Hogwarts. Eventually Harry decided to simply accept that it was his fate to always be this way. There was no point fighting it, no sense in going against the grain.

Then, when Harry was fourteen, something unexpected happened. He found someone who was like him. He found Cedric Diggory. In Cedric, Harry found a rival, a champion, an adventure, a best friend, a boyfriend.

But most of all, in Cedric, Harry finally found a reason to fight.

**CHAPTER ONE**

"Feel This"

_Cedric's outside._

The thought appeared in Harry Potter's mind from out of nowhere. The young man was lying on his bed, in his room on the second floor of 4 Privet Drive. From where he lay, he couldn't possibly see the street in front of his aunt and uncle's house to have noticed anyone, let alone his boyfriend of over eight months. Yet he knew, without so much as a glance out the window, that it was true. Having lived with this rapidly-developing new ability for several weeks now, Harry learned to trust it.

It was six o'clock in the evening, and the Dursley house was completely empty except for the teen wizard. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were at an event for the drill manufacturer that Vernon worked for, and had made it quite clear that they would be home very late. Harry knew his cousin Dudley would be using their absence to his advantage, staying out with the band of punks he called his friends far later than his normal curfew. And, while others may have been disappointed that none of their family was around to celebrate their fifteenth birthday, Harry was more than happy to have them gone.

He had someone better to celebrate with this year.

Harry took a moment to look around and make sure his room was presentable for his waiting guest, and to check his appearance in the mirror. His hair was a bit messy, but that was the norm. There was also an irrepressible grin plastered on his face, but that was the norm, too, when Cedric was around. He trundled down the stairs to the front door. Harry pulled it open and found, like he knew he would, Cedric Diggory waiting on the other side. He felt a ping of giddiness coming off of Cedric.

"Happy Birthday, Harry," the older boy said with a smile.

Unlike most wizards Harry had met, Cedric did an excellent job acclimating to Muggle fashion. Cedric was wearing a crimson button-down shirt under a blazer with dark jeans and dress shoes. Harry's eyes lingered briefly on the lightning bolt scar on the left side of Cedric's neck. Tucked under Cedric's right arm was a package wrapped in shiny green paper, unmistakably a birthday present.

Feeling so overcome with excitement, and with the emotions he felt coming from Cedric as well, Harry leaned up and kissed his boyfriend, not caring that they were standing in plain view of the rest of the street. Cedric pulled away, but not so fast that he didn't kiss back first.

"Whoa there!" Cedric admonished. "Kind of risky, standing in the front door, broad daylight and everything."

"Couldn't help myself," Harry replied. "Besides," he added, tapping the scar on his own forehead matching the one on Cedric's neck, "I know you wanted me to."

"It doesn't take a psychic link to tell that I want my boyfriend to kiss me," Cedric replied.

"Good point," Harry smirked.

They initially realized there was something strange going on the day after their encounter with Voldemort, after he saved Cedric from Peter Pettigrew's Killing Curse. The boys kept guessing what the other was thinking with uncanny accuracy, and answering questions without being asked, things like that. At first they chalked it up to knowing each other so well, having dated for more than half a year. But then, over the four weeks since then, it began growing stronger. They both started being able to feel the other's presence within a certain proximity. They could often sense each other's emotions with varying degrees of intensity. They could even, on occasion, tell what the other was thinking; not the whole thought, more a general impression of what was on the other's mind at the moment. Cedric had named it their Scar Sense, as a nod to their twin scars, the undoubted source of the connection.

The boys had, for the most part, no problem with this unforeseen turn of events. There were no secrets between them, so all it did was bring them closer. It did, however, make it difficult to control their emotions at times. When you could feel the person you desired wanting you just as much, a lot of willpower was required not to jump each other's bones right then and there, even if the then and there was in the middle of a crowded street. They were able to keep their hormones in check, for the most part, but since it was his birthday Harry didn't see the harm in indulging a little bit.

"Come on in," Harry said, moving aside so that Cedric could enter.

"So this is what this place looks like on the inside," Cedric observed upon entry, placing Harry's present on the table by the door.

Harry nodded

Since the school year ended, Cedric had been coming to visit Harry several times a week. However, this was the first time he ever set foot inside Harry's house. The younger boy felt it was best to keep Cedric's visits secret from his magic-hating, homophobic family, and Cedric didn't disagree. They met down the street instead and would wander around Little Whinging together. There was a park several blocks away that they liked to frequent, and a small cafe in town where they'd seek shelter when the summer heat became too unbearable. Harry felt guilty that he couldn't offer anything more exciting to do, but Cedric didn't mind at all. Thankfully his interest in Muggle culture made Harry's small town seem exciting.

Although he'd been coming for some time now, Harry found it strange to see Cedric standing in the front hallway of his aunt and uncle's house. Having his wizard boyfriend in the house he grew up in was difficult for Harry to wrap his head around. Yet, at the same time, it felt right. Like his past was merging with his present.

Of course it was also just plain nerve-wracking to have his boyfriend over while there was no one home. They had, as Hermione put it, "been intimate" before, many times, only it had been more than a month since they'd been able to do anything more than make out briefly in private corners. Once, when they were so desperate for release that they didn't care about the consequences of getting caught, they exchanged hand jobs in a stall in the men's room at the park, but that was it. Harry's news that his house would be vacant the night of his birthday had carried the clear implication that they would have complete, undisturbed privacy for an evening. It took an enormous amount of restraint not to simply rip Cedric's clothes off the moment he crossed the threshold.

"Would you like a tour?" Harry offered, attempting to get his mind off of sex.

"Sure," said Cedric.

"Okay, well, this is the hallway," Harry began. "Obviously. Through here is the living room, where Ron, the twins, and Mr. Weasley Floo'd in last summer, scaring the crap out of my family." Cedric laughed as Harry continued, gesturing down the hall behind him. "That's the kitchen, where Dobby the house-elf tried to get me kicked out of school by performing a Hover Charm on a pudding my aunt was serving to Muggle guests."

"Why on earth would he do a thing like that?" Cedric asked.

"To protect me from a younger version of Voldemort made up of memories stored in a diary," Harry explained matter-of-factly.

"Ah, isn't that always the reason?" Cedric mused.

Harry's gaze slipped to the left, to the door under the stairs. Behind it was the cupboard he'd slept in for the first ten years of his life. Either because he'd notice Harry's glance or because he could tell what Harry was thinking, Cedric looked, too, and instantly understood what he was seeing.

This was an aspect of their Scar Sense that Harry did not enjoy: they had no real control of it. Because of this, they sometimes found themselves sharing or feeling things they would rather not. Like now, when he could feel Cedric's sympathy for him. It made Harry wish that there was a way to keep their feelings to themselves.

"So this is it, eh?" Cedric said.

"Cupboard under the stairs," Harry confirmed. "I'm surprised it hasn't popped up in any of my unauthorized biographies yet."

"May I see it?" Cedric asked timidly.

"I don't know, Cedric..." Harry said.

"Please?"

Harry wanted to say no, but he also didn't want to be rude. And he knew that if he could trust anyone not to judge him it would be Cedric. So, with no small amount of hesitation, Harry unlatched the door and opened the cupboard.

It was small, much smaller than Harry remembered. Living in there now, at his current size, would probably feel like living in his school trunk. The camp bed he once slept on was still there. The whole cupboard appeared to have been untouched for some time. Harry wondered whether his family was too afraid to come near it now. Cedric went in, stooping low so he wouldn't hit his head. He sat on the bed and looked around. To Harry's relief, he could feel no pity coming from Cedric. There was only sadness intermingling with anger and an unexpected sense of pride.

"I have so much respect for you, Harry," Cedric told him. "A lot of people might've gone through everything you have and come out rotten and angry. But you... You're so full of kindness and forgiveness." He took Harry's hand. "You're just so amazing."

"Thanks," Harry said, at a loss for words.

"Now," said Cedric, exiting the cupboard carefully, "I think it's time we got your birthday celebration underway, how about you?"

"I'm not going to argue with that," Harry replied. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I thought we'd hit the Red Windmill," Cedric proposed. "I've grown rather fond of our little cafe during these visits. And then maybe catch a movie?"

"'Catch a movie'?" Harry quoted back. "You sound like such a Muggle."

"I know!" Cedric exclaimed. "Isn't it great? Then after that we'll come back here and you can open your present."

"You're going to make me wait all night for my present?" Harry complained. "No fair!"

"Now, now, behave, or you'll get nothing at all," Cedric scolded. "Besides, if you're patient, it won't be the only thing you get to unwrap."

"When you put it that way, how can I say no?" Harry asked. "I have a thought, though. How about, instead of going out to a movie, we watch a video here instead? The Dursleys have plenty to choose from and, besides, we can go out to see one any night we want. Tonight we have the house to ourselves. We might as well take advantage of it."

"I bet that's not all you want to take advantage of, Potter," Cedric said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"You know it, Diggory," Harry shot back.

"Sounds good," Cedric chuckled. "Now, let's get going, I'm famished."

"Uh, you should probably take your coat off first," Harry said. "There's a heat wave on, what were you thinking wearing a jacket?"

"That I'd look sexy and you'd want to have your way with me," Cedric said plainly.

"Oh please," Harry scoffed. "You could wear a dress and I'd still want to have my way with you. But, uh, don't, because that'd be weird."

"I was gonna say..."

So Cedric hung his jacket up in the coat closet and they headed out the door. The boys kept close to one another as they walked into town but were careful not to be too touchy. Despite his earlier lapse of self-control, Harry didn't want to risk anyone seeing them holding hands in public. He knew people wouldn't take too kindly to it.

"So, how's everyone doing?" Harry inquired.

Cedric cast a paranoid glance around before answering. Harry was used to this reaction by now, yet still thought it was overkill. As Harry had grown tired of saying, it wasn't likely that there were any Death Eater spies in the quiet Muggle town of Little Whinging. Harry guessed that old Mad-Eye Moody had been preaching "constant vigilance" all summer and that, at least for Cedric, the message had stuck. He wouldn't even reveal the name of the group he was working for, the "anti-Death Eaters" as Harry thought of them. Once he slipped and called it "the Order" and was immediately horrified with himself. He berated himself almost as badly as Dobby the house-elf did when he spoke ill of his masters.

"They're good," Cedric answered when he seemed satisfied there were no enemies about. "Everyone sends their love and birthday wishes."

"Yeah, I got a bunch of birthday cards late last night," Harry said wistfully. "How are Ron and Hermione?"

"They're good, too," said Cedric. "Missing you like crazy. They feel terrible that they haven't been able to write with any more details than they've been."

Harry experienced a brief surge of vindication that his closest friends felt terrible, and then felt terrible himself. It wasn't their fault they couldn't give him any information. Even Cedric, who was able to appear in person, couldn't tell Harry very much. And he didn't begrudge their being together. If anything, he was sort of glad. Since their clandestine kiss at Fred and George's New Year's Eve party, the two hadn't been quite right. Hopefully this time without Harry would give the two a chance to sort things out.

"Tell them I miss them for me?" Harry asked.

"I'm sure you'll be able to see them soon," Cedric said confidently.

"I'm not," said Harry.

"Hey now," Cedric said, patting Harry's arm affectionately. "Dumbledore will give the OK soon. I know it."

"Yeah, maybe," Harry replied, though he didn't really mean it. "Have you been able to talk to him?"

"Still not yet," Cedric answered. "He hasn't been around whenever I've gone there. Or much at all for that matter, according to the others."

"Okay. Anything else you can tell me?"

Like always, Cedric briefly filled Harry in on the latest news from the warfront. He didn't know much about the Order's plans, or at least not anything he could share. Cedric's only real assignment was to watch over Harry. It still bothered Harry to know that he was under guard, and had been since leaving Hogwarts. The Order originally wanted to keep this from Harry, but Cedric warned them against this, knowing Harry would resent the secrecy more than being under surveillance. Trusting their new recruit's judgment, they let Cedric tell him.

Only a couple of members had argued against Cedric's admittance to the Order. In the end, they accepted him. He was, after all, the only person over seventeen who had been present the night Voldemort was resurrected. Being the youngest and least experienced member, Cedric took his responsibilities quite seriously. A little too seriously, in Harry's opinion. Harry knew there was a terrible enemy lurking out there, but Cedric reached for his wand every time a stranger came within ten feet of them. It was distracting, not to mention how edgy it made the both of them.

"I suppose you've already seen the latest _Prophet_?" Cedric asked after he finished his update.

"And wished I didn't? Yes," answered Harry. "Same as always. Dumbledore's either senile at best or sinister at worst. And you and I are liars and glory-seekers."

"Not to mention me being deficient of moral fiber for seducing a boy of fourteen," Cedric mumbled, bitterness and shame dulling his voice.

"At least I'm fifteen now," Harry pointed out meekly. Then, outraged, "I can't believe how twisted they are."

"It's like Professor Lupin said, Fudge is leaning on the paper to report that things are business as usual, and to make us look bad so people won't believe us," said Cedric. "It isn't entirely their fault. When the Minister of Magic tells you to do something, you don't typically question it."

"Still sucks," Harry muttered. He nudged Cedric with his shoulder. "You know you're not really morally deficient, right?"

Cedric shrugged.

It pained Harry to see Cedric be so down on himself. He didn't have to wonder where the boy's low self-esteem came from, either. Cedric didn't talk much about his parents, but what he had divulged didn't paint a pleasant picture. Neither of them were happy about their son's involvement with the Boy Who Lived. Cedric's mother claimed only to be concerned because of Harry's history with Voldemort. Harry couldn't blame her for that; it concerned him, too. As for Mr. Diggory, his condemnation seemed to be based entirely on intolerance. On top of all that, they refused to speak about or even acknowledge Voldemort's return, though Cedric was certain they believed him. Their disapproval of his involvement with Harry and in the resistance made life in the Diggory household very tense. Despite Cedric's insistence that he wasn't responsible, Harry felt guilty that Cedric's family life was so difficult. He did his best to make sure Cedric's time in Little Whinging was always as pleasant and carefree as he could.

The Red Windmill wasn't too far from Privet Drive. Upon arriving, they took a seat at their favorite table, by the windows facing the park down the street. Their usual waitress, Kristin, a somewhat pretty girl around their age, came and took their drink orders, glancing coyly at the older boy the whole time. She went to get their drinks, leaving Harry to smirk at his boyfriend.

"What?" Cedric demanded.

"She so has a crush on you," Harry chuckled.

"Huh?" Cedric squeaked. "No she doesn't."

"Of course she does," said Harry. "She has for weeks. Not that I blame her. You have a way with people. You're sort of..." He thought for a moment. "Shit, what's the word I'm looking for?"

"Charming?" Cedric offered. "Enchanting?"

"No," Harry said. "I mean yes, but no, those aren't the one I'm thinking of. Something with a D. It's on the tip of my tongue, too..." He sighed. "That's gonna bug me."

Whatever the word he'd been trying to remember was, it didn't come to him before Kristin returned with their drinks. After their food was ordered and Kristin had scurried back to the kitchen, blushing over the smile Cedric had graced her with, the older boy raised his glass. Harry lifted his as well, meeting Cedric in a toast.

"To your birthday," Cedric pronounced. "And to the many more you have yet to celebrate."

"That **we**have to celebrate," Harry corrected.

"Too right," Cedric replied.

They shared a smile as they took a drink.

"And hey," said Harry, "now there's only a two year age gap between us."

"Until October, when I turn eighteen," Cedric pointed out.

Harry considered that for a minute. He'd never given much thought to the age difference between them before coming out. Back then it didn't matter, because there was no one's opinion to take into account except their own. Now that the whole school knew, Harry wondered if it was weird to date someone nearly three years his senior. Or what if, even worse, it was against the law?

"Is there anything we should be concerned about with that?" Harry asked apprehensively. "You know, laws or anything? I never really thought to ask, but now that we're sort of in the spotlight... I know there's Muggle laws, Age of Consent and all that."

"Age of Consent in our world is fifteen," Cedric informed him. "No worries there. Some people might frown on it a bit, but we were probably going to get that anyway, considering. We're not doing anything illegal, though."

"All right. And I know there's no laws against, like, homosexuality."

"No, no.," Cedric replied, fiddling with his napkin. "Nothing like that. The law, at least, is rather liberal as far as homosexuality is concerned."

"Sounds like there's a 'but' attached to that," Harry noted.

"I thought you liked my butt," quipped Cedric.

"Hah," Harry said flatly. "And while that's very true, I think you know what I meant."

"I do," Cedric replied. He took a deep breath. "The law is pretty liberal, but society itself tends not to be. The only reason we started being afforded equal rights was that the Ministry is highly aware of how limited the wizarding population is. If they denied rights to homosexuals, things would become even more limited. And then who's next? Muggle-borns? A witch or wizard can't marry a Muggle? Nahh, they know they can't legally deny us anything. However, that doesn't mean the same is true for people's attitudes. It doesn't hold the same stigma as being, say, half-giant, like Hagrid, but there definitely are some who will be disinclined to socialize with us."

"So it's more like how some wizards are about being pureblood," Harry suggested.

"Kind of similar to that, yeah," said Cedric. "Only, sadly, it's more acceptable to be anti-gay. People associate pro-pureblood attitudes with Voldemort, which is mostly why those sentiments have fallen out of favor. People overlook the fact that Voldemort tortured and murdered all kinds of people who were different, not just Muggles. He and his followers killed homosexuals as well."

"It's kind of like the Holocaust," Harry said. Realizing that Cedric, being a wizard, might not know what that was, he explained. "It was this thing, more than half a century ago, in Germany. Well, all over Europe, really. Most people think of it only as the genocide of the Jewish people, but homosexuals, people with birth defects, and a number of other groups were exterminated, too." Then Harry thought of something. "But there's lots of prominent gay witches and wizards. I read that in Homosexuality and Wizardry. There's Aidan Lynch and the former editor of the _Daily Prophet_. And isn't the bassist from the Weird Sisters bisexual?"

"Those are just rumors," Cedric dismissed with a wave of his hand. "You know, I readHomosexuality and Wizardrytoo. And it says Lynch out and proud now, but what it neglects to mention is that Ireland's top sponsor pulled out when he was first recruited. The sponsor didn't say it was because Lynch was gay, but everyone knew. The team almost wasn't able to qualify in time for the season."

"Are you serious?" Harry asked.

"Well I'm not kidding, that's for sure," Cedric responded. "Most people are **tolerant**, Harry. But tolerance is very different from acceptance."

"Yeah," said Harry. "I guess we'll just have to keep a low profile then. Good thing we're complete nobodies, eh?"

"My thoughts exactly," Cedric grinned. "How the hell did we get on this bloody depressing topic anyway? Let's talk about something else. Has your scar still been acting up?"

"Because **that's**a less depressing topic?" Harry snorted. "Um, yeah, a bit. Not all the time, though."

"I suppose that's to be expected," Cedric opined.

"What about you? Does yours ever bother you?"

"No, not really," Cedric answered. "At least not in the way you've described yours. I get that tingle sometimes, when you come close, but it goes away after a few seconds. And, you know, the other stuff, the empathy and all. That's it, though. Nothing when I'm on my own."

"Well, it's like we thought then," Harry said. "Yours isn't connected to Voldemort's, only mine is. Lucky me."

"What about your dreams?" Cedric inquired.

"Less nightmares about the graveyard," Harry told him. "Less of the ones where you, uh... Where you don't make it. More of the one with the hallway and the locked door."

"That's an odd one," Cedric said.

"Yeah," Harry concurred.

At that moment, Kristin arrived with their food. Harry was relieved, because he didn't like talking about his dreams about the hallway and the door. It made him uncomfortable for reasons he couldn't himself figure out. Thankfully, Cedric dropped the subject after that. Instead they began discussing the latest news in Quidditch. This subject carried them all the way through their meal.

Cedric insisted on paying the check, like always. He'd converted the majority of his Triwizard winnings into Muggle money at the beginning of the summer, saying he'd rather spend it doing things with Harry than on anything else. It might've also had something to do with Cedric making sure Harry got fed a proper meal more often, since he knew how poorly the Dursleys treated him. Harry tried to insist that it wasn't necessary, but Cedric wouldn't hear it.

"Hey, look at this," Cedric said, holding out a small copper coin from the change he got back. "That's not regular Muggle money, is it?"

"It is, it's just not British," said Harry. "I think it's American."

Harry took it, turning it over between his fingers. It was definitely American. It said "United States of America" on one side. The other side, next to a man's profile, had a year printed on it.

"This has my birth year on it!" Harry exclaimed. "That's so strange."

"Yeah," Cedric replied. "You should keep it. It could bring you luck."

"Or help me get lucky," Harry mused.

"Believe me, you don't need a coin for that," Cedric told him.

After Cedric made a quick stop in the men's room, they left. They went straight back to Harry's house rather than taking their usual walk through the park. There was no need for it tonight. They had a place to go. As soon as they were in the door, Harry eyed his birthday present eagerly. Cedric smirked.

"Oh, all right, you can open it now!" he said, feigning exasperation.

Harry cheered and brought the package into the living room. He sat on the couch and began attacking the green wrapping paper. Cedric sat beside him, watching the process with a look of amusement. The paper contained a medium-sized box. Harry pulled the top off and dove into the tissue paper inside. Underneath it all, at last, was a portable CD player with headphones, and a stack of CDs.

"You got me a CD player?" Harry gasped.

"Do you like it?" Cedric asked nervously.

"Are you kidding me?" Harry cried. "It's great!"

He tackled Cedric into a hug, making the older boy laugh. Harry planted several appreciative kisses on him, as well.

"I know you liked being able to listen to music in the Room of Requirement, so I thought you'd enjoy it," said Cedric.

"I will!" Harry said.

"And it's more than an ordinary CD player," Cedric informed him. "I made it so it runs on magic, and not batteries. Well, by that I mean Hermione helped me. So it'll work at Hogwarts without any problems, she made sure of that, and it'll never die. There's a whole bunch of CDs in there, too. Hermione showed me a way to make mix CDs, with all different songs on them. I put in a list with what songs are on what discs."

"That's... that's incredible," Harry stammered. "This is really incredible. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Cedric replied, smiling. "You want to pick a movie out now?"

_What I really want is to rip your clothes off and show you exactly how grateful I am,_Harry thought.

Cedric blushed, picking up on Harry's lustful intentions.

"Now, now, there's plenty of time for that," Cedric admonished. "I want to watch some TV, like a real Muggle."

"Oh, all right," Harry grumbled.

They riffled through the Dursleys' home video collection. Harry settled on Disney's The Sword in the Stone, remembering its eccentric portrayal of Merlin. He thought Cedric might get a kick out of that. He popped the movie in and they settled on the couch.

From there it was a slow but steady progression from actually watching the movie to basically rutting senseless on the couch.

Things started innocently enough. Cedric had sprawled out, while Harry laid back into his chest. Harry hadn't realized how much he missed doing this, all those nights in the Room of Requirement. Thinking about those nights, and what else they got up to on that well-used couch in the Room, made Harry's heart and hormones start to race. And now, with their new scar connection, Cedric could sense Harry's arousal, which then made him excited as well. Not that he needed the additional motivation to get turned on by Harry.

Soon they were kissing. Kissing turned to rubbing, and then naked rubbing. Harry insisted on moving up to his bedroom before things got too out of hand, and Cedric eagerly obliged. So eagerly, in fact, that he almost left his clothes piled on the Dursleys' living room floor before Harry reminded him to collect them.

It was a good thing they hadn't attempted anything before, with the Dursleys home, because their newfound connection proved to increase and intensify their feelings, feeding Harry's pleasure into Cedric and then back into Harry in an endless cycle. The pleasure was so intense that it was almost impossible not to react vocally, and loudly at that. Harry's orgasm wasn't so much a climax as it was an explosion. His scar burned white-hot with pleasure. At that moment, he could've probably produced a dozen Patronuses, if not a whole fleet.

It was several long, exhilarating minutes before the intensity their orgasms finally began to dim enough that they could even form coherent thought again. Harry fell beside Cedric on the bed. They were an exhausted, sweaty, sticky mess, gasping for air, still shaking as the aftershock slowly subsided.

"So, Scar Sex is awesome," Cedric said in awe.

"Agreed," Harry panted.

Cedric looked down at himself and grimaced.

"Aww, I'm all gross," he groaned.

"Yeah, you ruined my sheets, too," Harry observed. "I'm going to have to wash these before my aunt and uncle get back."

"And **I'm**going to have to do a cleaning spell on myself or something before I go home," said Cedric. "It's bad enough that I'm here so often. If I turn up all sweaty and smelling of sex, my parents will probably kill me."

"Or me," Harry added. "You could take a shower, if you want. We've still got time."

"Yeah, all right," Cedric agreed. "Only if you join me."

"Sure," said Harry.

They climbed out of bed and dashed across the hall to the bathroom, still naked. The boys took turns soaping each other down, copping the occasional feel and stealing many kisses. They didn't do anything more than that, though. Both were still too spent from their lovemaking. They didn't take very long, and soon were rinsed, dried off, and redressed. Harry decided to change into a fresh T-shirt and pajama bottoms rather than put his old clothes back on.

All too soon, Harry was walking Cedric to the front door to say goodbye.

"This is definitely my least favorite part of when you visit," Harry said somberly as Cedric put on his jacket.

"Mine too," Cedric replied. "But I'll be back soon, okay? How's Monday night work for you?"

"Well, I'd have to check my schedule," Harry joked. "I might be all booked up. I'll try to fit you in, if I can."

"I'd appreciate that, thanks," Cedric smiled.

They embraced, and kissed a few more times.

"Thank you for today," said Harry, giving Cedric an extra tight squeeze. "It's been the best birthday, probably ever."

"It was my pleasure," Cedric told him, pulling away reluctantly. "Literally, in fact."

Harry swatted his shoulder playfully. Cedric opened the door and, with a sad half-smile, departed through it. Harry watched from the doorway as Cedric walked to the curb and Disapparated before going back inside.

After washing his sheets, Harry took his birthday present and climbed into bed. He selected a disc, put on the headphones, laid back and pressed play.

_Yep,_ Harry thought. _Best birthday ever._

**End Notes:** Welcome back!  
Been a long time, I know. (Though still less than my lengthiest gap between updates: 7 months and 1 day.) Hope everyone is well. My semester sucked (horrible classes, my grandfather died), but ended nicely (vacation in Walt Disney World, where my boyfriend **proposed!**).  
I'd like to state, for the record, that Harry and Cedric's ages of 15 and 17 respectively are canon benchmarks only. In my head, they look like DanRad at 19 and RPattz at 22, because imagining actual underage boys doing it is kinda icky, not to mention illegal.  
Special thanks to my fiancée for being my constant beta reader. I already have more of a leg up on this story than I did on "Lack", with planning and such. Monthly updates? We'll see. –kevo


	2. I’ve Got a Dark Alley

**Title:** Sound of the Revolution, Chapter 02  
**Author:** kevo  
**Pairing:** Harry + Cedric.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** I do not claim ownership to these characters or the series they're from.  
**Summary:** In his fifth year, Harry faces ostracism with boyfriend Cedric for coming out and for declaring Voldemort has returned. (Order of the Phoenix canon re-write.)

The Love So Green Collection

Playlist #2:

sound of the revolution

**CHAPTER TWO**

"I've Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth  
(Summer Song)"

The days between Cedric's visits were always excruciatingly long. Harry spent most of their time apart doing what most would call sulking. And maybe he was, but he couldn't help it. Maybe the situation was better than any previous summer spent on Privet Drive, where he was on his own the whole time. That knowledge didn't provide much comfort, though. Now that he'd experienced having company in Little Whinging, especially company he enjoyed so much, it was torture going without.

At least he had his new CD player to occupy him.

Eventually, Monday, and Cedric, did arrive. Harry found the latter at their usual spot down the block from his house, waiting with a smile. He'd developed a fair amount of stubble since Harry last saw him. The younger boy reached up to feel it.

"You're all scratchy," he observed.

"It's not that bad," he frowned. "I haven't gotten around to shaving for a couple of days."

"Are you telling me that Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff Hottie, has not been keeping steadfastly to his normal grooming habits?" Harry teased. "I am stunned."

"All right, that's enough out of you," said Cedric.

"Oh, fine," Harry harrumphed. "But, so you know, I was about to say that I think it's kinda sexy."

"Did I say 'enough'? Because what I meant was 'not enough'," Cedric clarified. "Please, continue."

Harry laughed.

By now their walks had become routine. They would wander the streets before inevitably winding up at either the Red Windmill or the local park, sometimes both. Harry had seen more of Little Whinging in the past few weeks than in all of the fourteen years preceding them. Tonight they took the long way to the park, dawdling their way down the length Magnolia Crescent rather than taking the shorter route through Wisteria Walk.

"So, you haven't mentioned Cho in a while," Harry remarked. "Have you heard from her?"

"Not really," Cedric replied. "We've owl'd a couple of times, but that's it. We normally see each other during the summer. It's starting to look like that won't happen this year."

"I'm sorry."

"It's my own fault, really," Cedric admitted. "With everything that's been going on, I haven't been keeping in touch. Been a bit preoccupied."

"Well, there is a war on," Harry pointed out. "That can be a bit preoccupying."

"True," said Cedric. "School's only a month away, now. I'll make it up to her then."

"Oh yeah, school," Harry said dully. "Don't remind me."

For the first time Harry could remember, he was actually dreading his return to Hogwarts. He'd always had reason enough to feel like an outcast, given his history. Now, thanks to the _Daily Prophet_'s lies, he really **was** going to be an outcast. Sure, his school friends could always surprise him. It was possible. But when Harry thought about past circumstances – most recently the way he was treated when named the second Hogwarts champion last year – he didn't feel very optimistic.

"I don't suppose I can interest you in dropping out and running away with me?" Harry wondered.

"Oh, sure, because the _Prophet_ would love that," Cedric quipped. "'Degenerate Diggory Kidnaps Underage Lover.'"

"Don't call yourself that," Harry frowned. "You're not a degenerate."

"You sure?" said Cedric. "Because that's the exact phrase they used in the paper today. Compared me to an apprehended pedophile that was just sentenced to Azkaban. Although, at the very least, they did say he was a bit worse than me."

"Oh my God!" Harry exclaimed, horrified. "Are you serious!? That's – that's completely mental! You know they're wrong, right?"

"Confusing syntax much?" Cedric smirked. "Oh, I know, I know they're wrong. Still, I can't help wondering if there's some small amount of validity to their statement. You were only fourteen when we started dating, after all. And you're still so young."

"Ohh, no," said Harry. "Don't you dare start with that again. You haven't done anything wrong! Neither of us have! There's loads of couples at Hogwarts with an age gap. Ours might be at the larger end of the scale, but I don't even think it's the biggest one. You've never pressured me into anything. If you'll recall, I was even the one to kiss you first!"

"Okay, okay, you've made your point!" Cedric said, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "It's just, when they're accusing us of lying about You-Know-Who, it doesn't bother me, because I know we aren't. But the stuff about me being older, taking advantage, it's different. Those are real concerns I've had since we started dating. I know I'm not a pedophile, I'm not that daft. Even so, it upsetting to have someone accuse of the very thing I've been afraid of doing."

"You love me, yeah?" Harry asked. "And you'd never do anything to hurt me?"

"Of course," Cedric vowed.

"Then there's your answer," Harry concluded. "Doesn't matter what anyone else says."

"You're right," said Cedric. "And I'll try to remember that. For you."

"Thank you," Harry said.

They continued on their walk, putting the distressing subject of the duplicitous _Prophet_ behind them for the time being.

O O O O O O O

It was nearly nine-thirty when Harry and Cedric decided to say an intimate goodnight in the shadows of the alley between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk. They were so focused on each other that they almost didn't hear someone approaching from Magnolia. They pulled apart in time to see that their intruder was none other than Harry's cousin, Dudley.

Harry was at a loss. If Dudley saw them, he was going to have to explain what he was doing in an alley in the dark with a strange boy. There was no reason he could think of that would satisfy his pudgy cousin. Harry glanced at Cedric. The older boy looked just as concerned.

Dudley kept coming closer and closer. The alley was dark, but not that dark. He'd see them as he walked past. Even if they ran, they were too far from the exit. He'd be recognized.

There was no escape.

"Evening, Duds," Harry called out, trying to sound calm.

Dudley stopped in his tracks.

"Oh," he said flatly. "It's you. And…" Dudley squinted through the darkness. "You. I've seen you before. Walking around with my cousin."

"Yep, that's me," said Cedric. He took a step forward and extended a friendly hand. "Cedric Diggory."

Dudley eyed the hand warily.

"You're one of **them**, aren't you," said Dudley. It wasn't a question. "Like him."

"If you want to put it that way, yeah." Cedric replied evenly. "I am."

"Hang on," Dudley said. He appeared to be thinking very hard, screwing up his brow in concentration. "You're Cedric?" He looked at Harry and said, with a smirk, "So he's the one whose name you've been shouting in his sleep. 'Don't kill Cedric!' Who's he, then, your boyfriend?"

At first, Harry couldn't respond. He was too stunned. Because it was true, he had shouted that, in his nightmares about the night Voldemort returned. The one where he wasn't fast enough to save the boy he loved. He felt a sharp spike of concern coming from Cedric. Harry never told him how intense, how vivid and terrible, the dreams were at the start of the summer. He didn't want to worry him. He also didn't want to talk about them. It was too painful.

"None of your business, Dudley," Harry said finally.

"He is, isn't he?" said Dudley, eyes gleaming with malice. "Ooh, just wait til I tell Dad."

"If you tell him about me, I'll tell him about you," Harry threatened. Dudley looked confused, so Harry elaborated: "Running about, beating up ten-year-olds."

"Like he'll believe you," Dudley sneered. His expression didn't carry the same confidence as his words

"Maybe not," Harry allowed. "But maybe he will."

"What's that on your neck?" Dudley asked suddenly. He looking at Cedric. "Did you do that to yourself on purpose? To match my queer cousin? That's sick."

"I'd watch what you say to him, Dudley," Harry warned him coolly. "Cedric's older than me. He's allowed to do magic outside of school."

"You're lying," Dudley accused.

"He's not," Cedric replied quietly.

"H-he won't do anything," Dudley said, adding, meekly, "Will you?"

"Not if you go away very quickly," Cedric promised.

He did not look pleased at this turn of events. Harry felt bad, putting him on the spot like that. But he knew from experience that the only way they could get his cousin to back off was by threatening him.

"You can't," Dudley insisted. He was clearly trying to sound confident but fell short. "There've got to be laws against it. Right?"

"Are you willing to take that risk?" Harry mused. He couldn't help enjoy watching Dudley squirm a little.

"Harry…" Cedric said lightly.

"Knock it off," Dudley demanded.

"What?" said Harry, ignoring his cousin's pleas. "Like he doesn't deserve it? You know all the things he's done to me."

"That doesn't justify –"

What it didn't justify remained unsaid. Because suddenly the alley they stood in, which had been bathed in the soft light of the stars and streetlamps at either end, went dark.

"Hey!" Dudley cried. "Who turned out the lights?"

The dark was accompanied by sudden chill. Which would've been strange enough, given the sweltering heat, but this wasn't an ordinary chill. It washed away all the warmth, all the happiness, from his body. He looked at Cedric, who then looked back at him. They both knew what was going to happen next.

A moment later, the dementors attacked.

Harry went for his wand, which he carried despite Cedric's protestations. The older boy grabbed Harry's arm, stopping him.

"Put that away!" Cedric hissed. "Don't you dare try and use it, not one spell!"

"They're dementors, Cedric!" Harry pointed out. "It takes a Patronus to stop them, meaning you need me!"

"Keep your wand down," the older boy repeated. "I'll take care of this."

Before Harry could argue further, Cedric turned to face their attackers. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the creatures.

"_Expecto Patronum!_"

Silvery white light burst from the end of from Cedric's wand, forming something large and furry. A Patronus, in the form of bear.

Cedric's Patronus.

Harry had never seen it before. He didn't even know Cedric was capable of casting the charm. Most Hogwarts students, even in the seventh year, couldn't. Most fully-grown wizards weren't able, for that matter.

The bear Patronus charged at the dementors, chasing one out of the alley right off the bat before coming back around for the second. The other was bent over Dudley, preparing to deliver its horrible kiss. The shimmering bear rushed towards them, pouncing on the dementor and shoving it off the large boy. Like its companion before it, the dementor retreated hastily. The Patronus padded back to its owner. It was quite docile and friendly-looking now that the threat was over. Cedric patted the thing on the head, and the bear closed its eyes contently before fading away.

"I didn't know you could do that," said Harry. "Where did you learn…?"

"Lupin's been teaching me," Cedric replied. "I thought it might come in handy. Turns out I was right." He looked down at Dudley, who was a quivering, catatonic heap. "C'mon, we should get him home. And you."

As they were attempting to hoist Dudley up, a noise at the end of the alley caught their attention. Standing there, mouth agape, was Harry's elderly neighbor, Mrs. Figg. Her horror rapidly turned to rage.

"Oh, I'm going to **kill** Mundungus Fletcher!"

"Mrs. Figg! What are you doing here?" Harry cried. To Cedric, he muttered, "Hide your wand!"

But Cedric didn't. He was too busy asking a different question:

"You know Mundungus Fletcher?"

"Of course I do," she replied. "He was on watch tonight. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on you two. If it hadn't been for my Mr. Tibbles, I wouldn't've even known he swanned off!"

"You're in the Order?" Cedric asked, stunned.

"You're a witch!?" Harry asked, even more stunned.

"I'm a Squib, thank you very much, a fact that Dung is fully aware of, and yet where's he, I ask?" She shifted on her slipper-clad feet, glancing around nervously. "We should get you indoors, Harry. You **and** your lump of a cousin."

"But, I don't understand," Harry stammered. "All this time you knew who I was – "

"There'll be time enough for answers," Mrs. Figg said irritably. "We all need to get off the streets, now shift!"

The boys did as they were told, as Mrs. Figg, Squib or no, did not seem like the kind of woman you would want to cross. As Dudley did not seem like he'd be moving of his own volition any time soon, they each threw one of his beefy arms across their shoulders. Even with both of them doing the carrying, it was no easy feat.

"It was dementors, wasn't it?" Mrs. Figg asked. "I thought I felt something off, and then I saw the Patronus. They told me you were good, Harry, but I honestly didn't believe it when they said you could conjure one at your age."

"It wasn't me," Harry informed her. "That was Cedric's."

"Well, well," Mrs. Figg said admiringly. "Sounds like you might've been better off without Mundungus. I don't know that he can handle a doxy, let alone a dementor. Keep your wand out, sonny, there may be more of them about."

"What was Dung doing here, anyway?" Cedric demanded. "The Order knows I'm with Harry tonight."

"For goodness sake, don't be so thick," Mrs. Figg replied with a derisive snort. "Did you really think the Order was going to place Harry Potter's protection solely in the hands of a seventeen-year-old? They always have someone tailing, even when the two of you are together."

This news came as a bit of a shock. Harry felt violated, not to mention embarrassed. He thought back on all the times Cedric had visited that summer, the private moments they'd shared; dinners at the cafe, their heated encounter in the men's room at the park. Someone had been following them that whole time. How much had they been watching? He could feel Harry could feel Cedric's embarrassment, too, intermingled with resentment.

They didn't have much time to dwell on their humiliation, because a few seconds later there was a loud bang as a man Harry quickly realized was Mundungus Fletcher appeared. He knew it was Mundungus from the way Mrs. Figg began screaming at him and beating him with the bag of cat food she was carrying. He Disapparated to inform Dumbledore of the situation before she could do too much damage. As they resumed hauling Dudley home, a thought occurred to Harry.

"Hang on," he said. "You still didn't answer my question: all this time you've known who I am, where I came from, and you never said a word?"

"Dumbledore's orders," she replied. "I couldn't tell you then, you were too young. Sorry I couldn't show you a better time when you came around. If the Dursleys thought you were actually enjoying yourself at my place, they would've never let you come back."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Harry told her, bristling with anger and bitterness. "You knew who I was, how my parents died - sorry, were **murdered** - not to mention the hell that the Dursleys put me through, and you couldn't even show me the slightest bit of compassion?"

"I – I thought it best –" Mrs. Figg stammered.

"You could've told me to lie to them, you know," Harry pointed out. "It's not as if I would've had a problem doing that."

"I never – I hadn't considered that," Mrs. Figg said.

"Obviously," said Harry. "Look, I think we can manage to get the rest of the way on our own. Perhaps you should just go."

"Harry –"

"You've done enough, Mrs. Figg," Harry barked. "Just go."

For a moment, the guilty look on Mrs. Figg's face made Harry feel bad for snapping at her. Then he recalled the countless days he'd spent growing up on Privet Drive feeling scared, alone, and unloved, without a single person to show him the smallest bit of kindness. After that, he was glad to see her slink off bashfully into the darkness. This left Harry and Cedric carrying the burdens of Harry's cousin and the million questions that had just been raised.

"I can't believe they've been lying to me," said Cedric. "That they didn't trust me to look after you on my own."

"I don't need looking after," Harry informed him, annoyed. "I can defend myself, you know."

"No, you can't," Cedric replied flatly.

"Excuse me?"

"No, I don't – that's not what I meant," Cedric fumbled. "You're perfectly capable of defending yourself, sure, I get that. But you know what'll happen if you use magic outside of school. You'll be expelled. Is that what you really want?"

Harry contemplated the question before responding. True, he'd made light of dropping out earlier. And it was an intriguing notion, considering what he was probably going back to. But it would mean losing the place he'd considered his home for four years. It would mean losing Hermione and Ron, and Cedric. He couldn't risk that.

"No," Harry answered. "It isn't."

"Good," said Cedric. He nodded at the next house ahead. "We're here."

They dragged Dudley, who was still too out of it to stand on his own, up to the front door.

"I've got to go," Cedric announced, removing the limp Muggle's arm from across his shoulder.

"Right now?" Harry asked. He nearly buckled under his cousin's full weight. "Can't you stay? I might need your help, explaining."

"I can't," Cedric replied. "I'm sorry, but I've got to. I need to get home."

He was biting his lip rather vigorously. Harry hadn't seen him this nervous since they learned Cedric's parents had seen them in bed together in the hospital wing.

"Cedric? What's wrong?"

"I can't – it's nothing," Cedric insisted. "I've just got to get home." He kissed Harry on the cheek and whispered, emphatically, "I love you." Then he turned and hurried back to the sidewalk, where he Disapparated with a sharp pop.

The rest of the night was a blur. After getting Dudley inside, Harry explained what happened as best he could to his aunt and uncle, though they didn't make it very easy. Neither did the owls from Arthur Weasley, Sirius, and Dumbledore. The last left Harry the most confused. What did 'remember my last' mean? Clearly something important enough to convince Aunt Petunia to countermand Harry's eviction by Uncle Vernon.

Once in his room, Harry sent identical letters out to the four people he cared for the most: Ron, Hermione, Sirius and Cedric. Each demanded answers about what was happening and when he'd be liberated from Privet Drive. He then went to sleep, certain they would all reply by the next morning.

O O O O O O O

As he soon discovered, Harry's assumption that his letters would yield immediate results was dead wrong. There were no replies from anyone. He thought that maybe Cedric would turn up in person, but the day came and went with no sign of him.

With Cedric gone **and** not communicating, Harry returned to sulking. Only this time it was even worse. At least before he knew Cedric would be returning soon. Now he had no idea where his boyfriend was, or if he'd ever see him again. Before September 1st, anyway. Harry would definitely see him at school, no matter what.

He hoped.

After three days with nothing, Harry was starting to truly worry. He was used to Ron, Hermione, and even Sirius taking a long time to write back. Cedric, however, never let more than a day go by without replying, especially if they went this long without seeing each other. Did his silence have something to do with the reason he took off so fast?

So many questions, and so few answers.

Finally, on the fourth day, Harry's prayers were answered when the Advance Guard came. He'd barely had time to register their arrival before they were off. He tried asking about Cedric, but his questions were all rebuffed. Moody insisted that they not discuss anything relating to the Order until they reach headquarters. Harry found it a bit silly that their extremely covert journey was to be made on broomstick, yet he also wasn't about to complain for the opportunity to take to the sky once more. Since Quidditch was canceled for the Triwizard Tournament, he'd barely gotten any flying in last year. Unfortunately, the elation he felt astride his Firebolt didn't last, as the soared to higher, and colder, altitudes. It reminded Harry of his Quidditch match against Hufflepuff in his third year, when his hands nearly froze to his broom handle. This then reminded Harry of Cedric, and made him feel even worse.

In less time than he would've thought, the group descended upon London. Harry was shown a slip of paper revealing the location of the Order's headquarters, or Order of the Phoenix as Harry now knew it was called. They all entered the newly-materialized 12 Grimmauld Place, where Mrs. Weasley welcomed him with a fierce hug before sending him upstairs to Ron and Hermione while the Order had a meeting downstairs.

The first thing Harry heard upon entering the room she directed him to was Hermione's shriek. She tackled him with a hug that rivaled Mrs. Weasley's, and spouted off a lengthy greeting that only Hermione could get out so speedily:

"HARRY! Oh, Ron, he's here, Harry's here! We didn't hear you arrive! Oh, how **are** you? Are you okay? No, of course you're not okay, how could you be? You must be so upset with us. I'm so sorry we couldn't tell you anything, it was Dumbledore, he made us swear we wouldn't, there was too much of a risk. But you're here now! We can tell you everything! Well, everything we know, and that's not saying much, and you! You've got to tell us – the dementors! When we heard – and Cedric, that was so brave of him! But the Ministry, they can't do anything to him, I've been researching for days, because he's of-age now, and he was protecting a Muggle! I'm sure he's going to be fine, just fine, and, oh, Harry, I'm so sorry – "

"Merlin's beard, Hermione," Ron interrupted, peeling her off of their newly-arrived friend. "Give a guy a minute, would you? He just walked in the door."

"Right," Hermione said, taking a step back. "Of course."

"Sorry, mate," said Ron, turning to Harry. "You know how she tends to go on when she's excited."

"Lord help me, I think I actually missed it this summer," Harry replied. They hugged, one-armed with a handshake. It was manly, yet affectionate. "So, how've you two been?"

They look at each other, then looked away awkwardly.

_No change there, then,_ Harry thought with an internal groan.

"What have you been doing here, anyway?" Harry asked, perfectly willing to avoid the subject of their uncomfortable relationship if they were.

And they were. Ron and Hermione proceeded to fill Harry in on all the things they couldn't before he came to 12 Grimmauld Place. They explained that all they'd been doing was cleaning the house, and hadn't been privy to any information about the Order. The only thing they knew was who members were, and even then they didn't know everyone. The Weasley twins, Fred and George, as well as the youngest Weasley, Ginny, came in somewhere in the middle discussing Extendible Ears. Harry noticed Ginny was making a concerted effort not to look direct at him, and wondered what that was about.

"Are you angry?" Hermione asked nervously. "That we didn't tell you anything?"

"You know, I thought I would be," Harry admitted. "And I might've been, had it not been for Cedric. He couldn't say much, obviously, but having him there was a big help. If it hadn't been for him, I would never have known to look for the shit the _Daily Prophet_'s been printing."

"He's been really helpful here, too," Hermione said. "He comes a few times a week to help with the cleaning."

"Really?" asked Harry.

"Oh yeah," George agreed. "He's a whiz with household magic. You've picked a fine husband for yourself, Harry."

"Shut up," Harry blushed.

"Yeah, Cedric's perfect," Ginny muttered.

Then, scowling, she stormed out of the room. Ron, Hermione, and the twins all looked at each other uneasily.

"We'll go after her," said Fred. "Good seeing you, Harry."

He and George departed after Ginny. Harry turned to Hermione and Ron, confused.

"What was…?"

"It's nothing, really," Ron said. "It's just… Ginny's got a bit of a thing about Cedric. He sort of rubs her the wrong way."

"What?" cried Harry. "That's ridiculous! How can she have a problem with Cedric? He's polite and funny and –"

"Your boyfriend," Hermione cut in. "Ginny's had a crush on you since before she started at Hogwarts. She was devastated when she found out you were gay."

"But that's not Cedric fault!" Harry exclaimed.

"We know that, mate," said Ron. "And she knows that, too. It's hard for her, is all. She'll adjust. Give her some time; it's barely been a month since you two came out."

This news was a real shock to Harry. He'd expected some adversity after coming out publicly, but never thought it would come from someone so close to him. He wondered how many other people's reactions would come as a surprise when he returned to Hogwarts.

"Hermione," said Harry, his thoughts of Hogwarts reminding him of something the girl said when he first came in. "What was that you were saying before, about the Ministry and Cedric?"

"You – you mean he didn't tell you?" Hermione asked. Harry shook his head. "Oh, Harry, they're charging him with breaking the Statute of Secrecy, for using magic in front of a Muggle."

"They want to expel him from school," Ron said gravely. "They're even talking about taking his wand away."

So that was it, Harry thought. That was why he hadn't heard from Cedric in four days. He remembered about how quickly Cedric left that last night, how he refused to explain. He must've known this would happen.

"But they can't!" Hermione insisted. "I know they can't. He was saving your cousin's life!"

"There's going to be a hearing," Ron told him. "Like when Buckbeak mauled Malfoy. They'll decide then whether or not to… well, you know."

"When?" asked Harry.

"Thursday," Hermione replied.

"Okay then," said Harry.

Their conversation ended there, as Mrs. Weasley appeared to let them know the meeting was over and dinner was about to be served.

After their meal, Sirius invited Harry to ask the questions he had been dying to ask, about the Order and the war. Mrs. Weasley tried to protest, vehemently, but was outvoted by the others. Most of it Harry could've guessed at. Voldemort was rebuilding his army. Some, like the fact that Fudge was afraid of Dumbledore taking his power as Minister of Magic, was news but not very surprising. Right as they were getting to the good stuff, the part about what Voldemort was truly after, Mrs. Weasley stopped them, and demanded that everyone go off to bed. Harry went without a fuss.

It had been a long day. He almost couldn't believe he'd woken up in Little Whinging just that morning. As soon as the Weasley twins Disapparated back out of his and Ron's room, having popped in to discuss the evening's revelations, Harry rolled over and was asleep in minutes.

O O O O O O O

Some time in the night, Harry rolled over to find that he wasn't alone in his bed. He could instantly tell the identity of his unexpected bedfellow, even without their Scar Sense.

"Cedric?"

"Hi, Harry," Cedric replied quietly.

"S'it really you, or am I having that dream again?" Harry asked.

That made the older boy crack a smile. It wasn't a very big one, though. He was fully dressed, and did not look nearly as happy as he normally did when in bed with Harry.

"It's me, baby," Cedric assured him. "Go back to sleep, okay? We'll talk in the morning."

"Oh, okay," said Harry. "Love you."

"I love you, too," said Cedric.

And with that, Harry fell back asleep.

**End Notes:** Spot the Doctor Who reference! This chapter almost went up earlier, but I found Cedric to be very mopey, and that's not the Cedric I wanted in this story. So I had to fix it.  
One last thing: I find reviews demanding that I update faster very frustrating. I do this for fun, I do this for free. When people start making me feel bad for "taking so long" to get a new chapter up, it stops being fun, and, since it doesn't pay, I lose interest. Saying you're excited for the next chapter is one thing, but insisting that I'm not updating fast enough is just going to make me take longer.

Thanks for reading. -kevo


	3. The Way We Get By

**Title:** Sound of the Revolution, Chapter 03  
**Author:** kevo  
**Pairing:** Harry + Cedric.  
**Rating:** PG-13, with some slightly more adult content in the middle.  
**Disclaimer:** I do not claim ownership to these characters or the series they're from.  
**Summary:** In his fifth year, Harry faces ostracism with boyfriend Cedric for coming out and for declaring Voldemort has returned. (Order of the Phoenix canon re-write.)

The Love So Green Collection

Playlist #2:

sound of the revolution

**CHAPTER THREE**

"The Way We Get By"

There's something absolutely wonderful as waking up in the arms of the person you love after worrying you'd never see them again. No one knew this better than Harry Potter, who was experiencing the feeling for the second time in less than three months.

The boys' legs were intertwined, and Cedric's arm was wrapped protectively around Harry's chest. Harry wished he could've stayed like that all day, but the ache in his bladder demanded otherwise. As delicately as he could manage, Harry disentangled himself from their embrace. Ron's bed, he noticed, was already empty. Harry dashed to the bathroom to relieve himself. By the time he got back, Cedric was awake, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He'd shaved the scruff since Harry saw him last, yet somehow looked more haggard now without it than he did then with it.

"Hey," Harry smiled. He sat down on the bed, facing his boyfriend. "What are you doing here? And why did you sleep in your clothes?"

"I got in last night," Cedric told him. "It was late, so I just went to bed in this."

"Okay," said Harry. "But that still doesn't answer the question of what you're doing here. Not that I'm not happy to see you, but something about you showing up in the middle of the night makes me think you didn't just pop in for a sleepover."

"It's my parents," Cedric replied somberly. "I don't know if anyone's told you yet, but, after the incident on Monday night, I got a letter from the Ministry."

"Hermione told me," Harry broke in. "I know about the hearing. It would've been nice to hear about it from you, though."

"I know," Cedric nodded. "I'm sorry. Things have been so crazy at home since then. As far as my mum's concerned, this is just further proof that being involved with you is dangerous. And Dad, he's been fuming. Ranting about how this gives me a bad name and it's going to muck up my chances of getting a decent job after I graduate. I got so fed up with it last night that I took off, and ended up here. Sirius was still up, in the kitchen. We talked for a while and he told me I could stay here as long as I need to. He even said I could bunk with you." He gave Harry a weak smile. "You think that means he likes me now?"

"I'd reckon he does," Harry said. "I'm sorry about your parents."

"It's all right," said Cedric. "I know it's only because they're worried for me."

"And yet You seem oddly calm," Harry observed.

"Oh, I'm terrified!" Cedric said with a sardonic laugh. "The thought of being kicked out of school has me scared as hell. And I don't even want to think about the possibility of them taking my wand away. But I know I did the right thing, so I should be fine."

"I don't understand, how can the Ministry accuse you of breaking the Statute of Secrecy in the first place?" Harry asked. "Dudley's a Muggle, but he's my cousin. He already knows about magic and all that."

"With everything that's happened, I don't think the Ministry is trying to play fair," replied Cedric. "They've probably been waiting for any opportunity they could get to crucify one of us. I'm simply the first one to make the wrong move." He reached over and took Harry's hand. "I missed you."

A second later, the door slammed open. Ron entered, accessed the situation, and immediately looked guilty for interrupting their private moment.

"Hi," he said awkwardly. "Hey, Cedric."

"Morning, Ron," Cedric replied.

"Where've you been?" Harry asked.

"Cleaning," Ron told him. "Mum said I should let you sleep in. She reckons you've both had a rough week. But it's nearing lunchtime now, so you might wanna get up soon."

"Okay, thanks," said Harry.

"Yeah," said Ron.

He nodded, and then went back out, closing the door behind him. Harry rose from the bed and went about changing out of his pajamas.

"I wish you'd told me this could happen," he said. "That night, when you rushed off. I was worried."

"I wasn't sure that it would," Cedric replied. "I knew it might, but I didn't want you to worry."

"I was already worried," Harry countered. "I didn't hear from you for days, and I didn't know why."

"I know," said Cedric. "I really am sorry."

After pulling a clean shirt over his head, Harry went back to the bed and wrapped his arms around the still-seated Cedric. Things were hard enough for him already, Harry decided. He didn't need any more grief, least of all from his boyfriend.

"It's okay," Harry assured him. "Really. I was just scared, that's all. And I don't like you keeping stuff from me. I'm not a kid. We need to be honest with each other, okay?"

"Okay," Cedric consented.

"Come on," Harry said, standing and taking Cedric's hand. "Let's go downstairs and get something to eat."

Cedric rose and followed Harry out of the bedroom. From the hallway that led to the kitchen, they could hear two voices arguing inside. As they drew nearer, Harry realized they were his godfather and Ron's mum. The door was slightly ajar, and he and Cedric peered through the opening, carefully staying far enough back that they wouldn't be seen.

"Well where else are we going to put him?" Sirius was saying. "We're running out of beds around here, Molly. They're going to have to double up anyway at this rate."

Mrs. Weasley's voice replied sharply, "That is not the point."

"What is the point, then?" Sirius queried.

"He's fifteen, Sirius," said Mrs. Weasley. "And even if he wasn't, it's inappropriate to let your godson share a bed with his boyfriend."

Harry and Cedric shared a glance. This was not a conversation they wanted to walk in on. However, neither was willing to back away from the door just yet.

"Ah, but that's just it. He's **my** godson," Sirius countered. "And, for that matter, this is my house! It's my decision!"

"That's not fair, you know I love Harry like one of my own," Mrs. Weasley argued. "And you're not the only adult here, Sirius. You shouldn't be allowed the only say in this."

"What's this really about, Molly? You know the kind of bloke Cedric is. Or have you started buying in to the _Prophet_'s lies?"

"I would never – !" Mrs. Weasley gasped, clearly offended by the accusation.

"And what do you think's going to happen, anyway?" Sirius interrupted. "It's not as if Cedric will get him pregnant." Harry snickered at that. Noticing Sirius's eyes shift subtly toward the kitchen door, the boy swiftly fell silent. "Honestly, Molly, do you think we could really stop them from doing anything if they set their minds to it? I don't." Then, louder, he asked, "Do you, Harry?"

Again the boys looked anxiously at one another. They were busted. Since the jig was up anyway, they shuffled timidly into the kitchen. Sirius was smirking at them, while Mrs. Weasley looked away uncomfortably.

"Morning," Harry said.

Mrs. Weasley replied tersely, "Morning, Harry. Cedric."

"Good morning," said Cedric. He hesitated a moment before saying, "I can sleep in the drawing room, or something. If there's a problem."

"There's no problem," Sirius said flatly. "It's my house, and what I say goes. If you want to share a bed with your boyfriend, it's no chip off my wand."

"I don't want to cause any trouble," Cedric persisted. "At least, any more than I already have. I know how much you care for Harry, Mrs. Weasley, and I'd hate for you to think poorly of me. But you have to know, I would never do anything to hurt Harry, I love him more than – and I would never –"

At the sincerity of Cedric's words, Mrs. Weasley's expression softened. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, sweetheart, I never meant to suggest you were doing anything wrong," she said. "I'm just old fashioned, that's all. It'd be the same for any one of you kids, gay or not." She sighed. "But I suppose Sirius is right. Rooms are in rather short supply around here, and it's not as if you'd get up to anything with Ron in the next bed. We'll have to lay some ground rules, but I know you're a good boy." Then, with a sly smile, she added, "And the _Daily Prophet_ can eat dragon dung. Now, what shall we have for lunch?"

Cedric gave her a smile, small but real, and helped her prepare their noontime meal.

O

Any jealousy Harry once felt of Ron and Hermione for being at the Order's headquarters while he was stuck in Little Whinging was gone by the second day of cleaning. At least on Privet Drive he could get out of the house for some air. Here they were forbidden from venturing outside of 12 Grimmauld Place. The dirty old house was pleasantly cool, though, so that was a pleasant change from the sweltering heart of the Dursleys'.

Unfortunately, not only was his theory that time alone might do Ron and Hermione some good completely wrong, it seemed that time without Harry there only aggravated the situation between the two of them. Whenever Harry tried to question either of them about it (separately, because he wasn't stupid enough to try it while they were together), Ron would simply shrug and Hermione would say there was nothing to talk about in a very tight voice. He wondered if something might've happened to exacerbate their discomfort. Normally he'd wave the notion off, believing one of them would tell him if something did, but then he thought of how he didn't know they kissed for almost two months. There was no telling what they could be keeping from him now.

To make matters worse, Ron and Hermione hadn't exaggerated Ginny's aversion to Cedric. She never spoke to him unless it was absolutely required, and even then she wouldn't look at him. Whenever Harry and Cedric were too close to one another for very long, Ginny would leave in a huff. Harry tried accommodating her the first two days they were there, but quickly became fed up with the youngest Weasley's antics.

On the bright side, they also hadn't exaggerated about Cedric's housecleaning skills. He really was quite good. The only one better at it than him was Mrs. Weasley. Privately, Harry suspected this was only because Cedric held back around her so she wouldn't be put off by him. There was no fear of that with the rest of them. As far as everyone else was concerned, the more cleaning Cedric got done, the less they had to do. At the rate he was going, he could've had Grimmauld Place in livable condition by the end of the month.

Not that Cedric seemed to mind. He actually enjoyed sifting through the mess, uncovering long-lost relics and ancient heirlooms. As Harry affectionately put it, Cedric was something of a "history nerd." At first Harry found his enthusiasm endearing, and was glad Cedric had something to lift his spirits in these troubling times. Then, after the twenty-eighth time he ruled that an object's historical value was too great to simply throw it away, it became annoying.

"Wait, wait, wait!" the excited Hufflepuff cried for the fourth time one afternoon. "Don't throw that away!"

Harry and Ron, who were working with him, both let out a low, haggard groan. The offending object was a heavy gold locket that none of them could manage to get open. Harry was on the verge of chucking it when Cedric halted him.

"So what is it then?" Harry asked impatiently, handing to him.

"I'm not sure," Cedric replied as he looked the bauble over. "It looks familiar, though. This symbol, the S with the emeralds, I think I may have seen it somewhere before. It must've been in some book I read."

"You know," said Ron, "you seem so normal that I sometimes forget you're like a boy version of Hermione when it comes to school and stuff."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment, given how brilliant Hermione is," Cedric responded coolly.

"I never said she wasn't," Ron frowned, ears flushing.

"Are we putting it in the Keep pile then?" Harry inquired.

"For now," said Cedric. "Maybe I'll look it up in the library when we get back to Hogwarts. You know," he added, "if I go back."

"Don't even talk like that," Harry said. "You will."

With a shrug, Cedric passed the thing to Ron, who took it to the Keep pile, mumbling under his breath, "He's keeping us from throwing out more things than Kreacher does."

O

The day before Cedric's hearing, Harry took Ron aside after lunch. He had an idea how he could make Cedric relax, but needed Ron's help, in a way, for it to work.

"Hey Ron, uh… Would you mind giving me and Cedric the room to ourselves for a little while tonight? Maybe hang out in Fred and George's for an hour or so?"

"Why?" Ron asked. Taking in Harry's suggestive smile, he exclaimed, "Oh, Merlin! All right, fine. But, um, don't do anything in my bed, okay?"

"Why would we want to do anything in your bed?" Harry wondered.

"I don't know what sort of kinky hijinx you get up to!" Ron hissed. "Okay? Just don't!"

"All right, all right, calm down," said Harry. "You're bizarre, but okay. No kinky sex hijinx in your bed. I promise."

"Thanks," said Ron. Under his breath, though still audible, he muttered, "At least one of us is getting some."

Harry frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Ron quickly responded. He didn't seem to think he'd been heard.

"No, I'm sick of your Nothings," Harry argued, "it's clearly Something. Did you and Hermione... Did something happen?"

"Not anything new," Ron answered. "We've kissed, a few times. She'll just all of a sudden surprise me. I guess you could call it making out, but it doesn't last very long. We haven't since you showed up. Not that I hold it against you, just…. She's nuts."

"It doesn't sound like you have much of a problem with it," Harry pointed out.

"Would you?" asked Ron. "Okay, wrong person to ask, maybe."

"No, I get it," Harry assured him. "Have you tried talking to her about it?"

"Once," Ron replied. "She acted like she didn't know what I was talking about, and then my mum came in so I couldn't say anything else."

"Yeah, that is kinda nuts," Harry agreed.

"Yeah," said Ron. "Anyway, it's fine, you get your rocks off with your lover boy."

"It's not like that," Harry claimed. "The hearing is tomorrow. I wanted to do something to help take his mind off it."

"Oh, right," Ron said in a placating manner. "I'm so sure that's the only reason."

Truth be told, Ron's accusation wasn't so far off. Harry's intentions weren't entirely altruistic. He did want to help Cedric unwind, but he also needed some release badly as well. The boys had been living in the same house, sharing a bed, for several days, with no chance of getting in more than a few kisses and a quick grope or two. Harry wanked in the shower, sure, but it wasn't the same. If he had to go the rest of the summer without any sexual contact, especially now that their attraction was heightened through their Scar Sense, pretty soon Harry was going to start humping the furniture.

He decided to enact his plan after dinner that evening, when Mrs. Weasley, easily the biggest obstacle in the boys' sex lives, would be occupied with clearing up. Harry signaled Ron to let him know it was time, and then waited in their room for Cedric to finish showering. The anticipation made Harry so hard he had to fight the urge to start playing with himself, afraid he would come before Cedric got there.

Finally, the older boy entered in a bathrobe, hair still slightly damp. He smiled at the sight of Harry splayed out comfortable across their bed, then looked around, confused.

"Where's Ron?"

"Not here," Harry said, propping himself up on an elbow. "I asked him to clear out so we could have some privacy."

Cedric's eyebrow arched as his smile became more of a smirk. He slid his bathrobe off, tossing it over the back of a chair, leaving him in just a towel. Harry's heart pounded.

"Oh did you?" said Cedric, stepping closer to the bed. "And why would you do a thing like that?"

Harry almost felt sorry for everyone in the world who would never get to experience Cedric Diggory in a towel, his eyes clouded over with desire. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

"Ron did have one condition," Harry informed him. "We aren't allowed to do anything on his bed."

"Why would we want to?" asked Cedric.

"No idea," Harry replied, "but he was quite specific about it for some reason."

Then Harry yanked at the towel around his boyfriend's waist so that it came loose and fell to the floor. In seconds, the older boy was on the bed with him, on top of him, and seconds after that Harry's own clothes were on the floor. It was hard to remember to keep their voices down, lest they alert the others what they were up to. They'd never been in a situation where they could get caught, so it was never a concern before. Even when they used to meet in the prefect's bathroom, they did it in the dead of night with the door locked. And no one could find them in the Room of Requirement. It turned Harry on a little, the danger of it, and the sneaking around.

Once they were both finished, Cedric rolled off of Harry, panting.

"Merlin, that felt great," Cedric declared.

"Oh yes," Harry concurred. He laughed, indicating the rapidly cooling mess they left on his midsection. "Good thing I didn't shower yet."

"C'mere," Cedric said. He grabbed Harry by the back of the neck and pulled him in for a hard, passionate kiss. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," Harry said back, stroking Cedric's cheek.

"Okay," Cedric sighed. "You go shower. I'm sure the Order meeting will be over any minute."

Eager to clean himself up, Harry hopped out of bed, gathered up his shower things and hurried to the bathroom.

O

The boys woke up at about twenty after five the next morning. In such close proximity, their Scar Sense had a tendency to rouse one at the same time as the other, a fact they were still getting used to. As Cedric got up and got dressed, Harry contemplated staying in bed. It was tempting, but he could feel Cedric's fear and anxiety coming off him in waves. Since he couldn't actually go to the Ministry hearing with him, the least Harry could do was keep Cedric company until he left. He struggled to sit up, leaving the comfortable warmth of his sheets behind.

"Morning," Harry murmured sleepily.

For the first time since waking up, Harry felt Cedric's tension ease slightly. He looked over at Harry across the darkened room, a genuine smile on his face. Cedric returned to the bed and gently stroked Harry's hair.

"Go back to sleep, baby," Cedric whispered, kissing Harry on the forehead.

"I wanna stay up with you," Harry replied, his voice slightly raspy from sleep.

"You're sweet," Cedric told him, "but you should sleep. I'll be fine."

Not willing to be deterred, Harry rose from their bed. It was not a graceful movement, but he was on his feet, at least. He took Cedric's hand and nudged him toward the door.

Together they went down to the kitchen, where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Sirius, Lupin, and sleepy Tonks were already seated around the table. Mrs. Weasley immediately rose and began fixing Cedric some breakfast. The rest continued the conversation they had been having before the boys entered. Harry didn't let go of Cedric's hand until the older boy needed it to feed himself, at which point Harry rested his on Cedric's leg instead.

"You look very nice, dear," Mrs. Weasley told Cedric as she set a plate of bacon and eggs before him.

"I think that's the tie you were wearing when we first met," Sirius noted.

"Yessir," said Cedric.

"Ohh, don't call me 'sir', Cedric," Sirius groaned dramatically. "I've told you enough times."

"Right, sorry," Cedric replied. "Just nervous, I guess."

"Well, it'll all be over soon," Mr. Weasley said reassuringly. "The hearing's on my floor, in Amelia Bones's office."

"I've met her before," Cedric said. "Dad always said she was very fair."

"She is," Tonks concurred after a yawn. "She'll definitely hear you out."

"And the law is on your side," said Lupin. "You did what you did to save someone's life."

As soon as Cedric finished his meal, Mr. Weasley glanced at his watch.

"Maybe we should go now," he said. "It's early, but better that than sitting around waiting here, eh?"

Cedric nodded and stood. The others did as well, all patting him on the back and wishing him luck. Harry and Mrs. Weasley followed Cedric and Mr. Weasley to the front hallway, where the married couple kissed goodbye. The boys looked at each other, then shyly at the adults. Taking the hint, the Weasleys turned away politely so the boys could kiss. It was chaste, though not without feeling.

"It's going to be fine," Cedric promised.

"Shouldn't I be the one comforting you?" said Harry.

"You already have," Cedric answered.

Mrs. Weasley then took her turn, giving Cedric a hug and wishing him luck. Then, with a small wave, he and Mr. Weasley departed. Once more, Harry considered going back to sleep, but didn't think he'd be able to. Instead, he went up to the drawing room and sat on the couch there, in the dark, to wait until the others awoke.

Staring at the dusty rug on the floor, Harry let the sounds of the old house, the creaks in the floors and Mrs. Weasley bustling about wash over him. He thought his mind would've been racing, worrying about Cedric, but he actually found it to be kind of listless. It wasn't that he wasn't concerned; he simply couldn't get his mind to focus on it. Maybe that was for the best.

When sitting didn't feel comfortable enough, Harry lay on his side, curled up against an arm of the couch. It was a decently comfortable couch, really. So much that Harry didn't even realize he was falling back asleep until he woke up again. He got up and stumbled, feeling slightly disoriented, to the room he shared with Ron and Cedric. It was empty. There were voices coming from downstairs, so Harry went to the kitchen. Everyone was sitting down to what appeared to be lunch already.

Everyone, including Cedric.

"Cedr'c?" Harry mumbled groggily. "What're y'doing here? Thought you had the hearing."

"You slept right through it, man," Ron informed him.

"I did?" Harry said, surprised. "I didn't even mean to fall asleep." He turned to Cedric. "Well? What happened? How did it go?"

Before Cedric could answer him, George announced, "He got off!"

"And without your help for once!" added Fred.

"FRED!" Mrs. Weasley shouted thunderously.

"What?" Fred replied innocently. "I was only saying he got out of trouble without Harry's help. You know, like when Harry saved him from You-Know-Who?" He shook his head in feigned derision. "Need to get your mind out of the gutter, Mum."

"Oh, is that what I need?" said Mrs. Weasley. "I thought what I needed was to give a smack to my cheeky-mouthed son."

"Nope," Fred said breezily, "definitely the gutter thing."

Harry was barely listening to a word of this exchange, too busy hugging his boyfriend instead.

"I knew you'd be fine," Harry murmured.

"Oh really? Could've fooled me," Cedric teased.

As they ate, Cedric and Mr. Weasley filled Harry and the others in on their day and the hearing, or rather the trial, as it had apparently become. Harry took Cedric's hand under the table as he described the dungeon courtroom and being interrogated by the Wizengamot. It was surprising to learn of Dumbledore's participation in the trial. Especially, Harry thought bitterly, since he hadn't seen the headmaster once since he arrived at Grimmauld Place the week before. A sharp pain cut through his scar as he thought this, so strong that he couldn't help bringing his hand to his forehead.

"You okay?" asked Cedric.

"Yeah, it's nothing," Harry said. "Scar acting up, that's all. Hang on, did you just say Mrs. Figg was a witness? Why didn't Dumbledore have me come? I was there, I saw the whole thing!"

The elder members of the Order looked uneasily at each other. It was Mr. Weasley who finally answered Harry's question.

"I think Dumbledore felt the Wizengamot might not find you to be a credible witness," he said, "with all the, er, bad press you've been the subject of lately."

"But that's not fair!" Harry cried. He didn't realize how childish it would sound until it was already out of his mouth.

"Try not to let it bother you, Harry m'boy," Sirius said, patting Harry on the back. "Cedric's cleared of all charges. That's what really counts."

This was true. What did it matter if Dumbledore had excluded him from the proceedings? He won Cedric's case, and that was the important thing. Yet, for some reason, Harry felt a sudden, inexplicable surge of anger toward the man. He tried to shake it off, and be happy for Cedric's sake, but it was hard.

Once lunch was finished, and Mr. Weasley had gone back to work, Mrs. Weasley announced that she was giving them all a reprieve from cleaning for the day, in honor of Cedric's ruling. Harry and Cedric spent the day with Ron and Hermione doing nothing much at all. They didn't discuss the trial, or anything that happened at the Ministry of Magic, again until later that evening. Cedric was sitting, pajama-clad, on the bed while Harry finished changing into his own nightclothes.

"We saw my dad," Cedric revealed. "Today at the Ministry."

"You what?" Harry exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I am telling you," Cedric countered. "I didn't want to talk about it in front of everyone else because I don't want to make a thing out of it. We saw him in the lift on the way to Mr. Weasley's office. He looked at us, and he said, 'Arthur. Son.'"

The newly acquitted teen lay back on the bed, hands clasped over his stomach. He nibbled his lip for a second before speaking again.

"He called me 'Son,'" Cedric repeated. "That was it. And the way he said it, he may as we'll've been talking to some work acquaintance. It's not like I was expecting him to ask how I've been or, Merlin forbid, wish me luck on my hearing. But I thought he'd be, I dunno, less cordial or something." In a much smaller voice, he asked, "What if he never forgives me?"

"There's nothing to forgive," Harry replied hotly. "You haven't done anything wrong. From what I understand, that's what a large portion of the Wizengamot seemed to think, anyway."

"They did," said Cedric. "And that was reassuring, believe me." He sighed. "I' m trying to stay positive, I really, really am. It's tough, though, when there's so many things working against it. All the stuff the _Prophet_'s been saying, and my dad's attitude today. I can't help feeling a little hopeless at times."

"And I understand that," Harry said. "But you have to realize that you are a good man, no matter what anyone else tries to say about you. I know it. Our friends, and the Order, they all know it. The Goblet of Fire must've known it, or it wouldn't've picked you. Dozens of students entered, but you're the one who got chosen, by an object enchanted to select the best out of all of them."

"I never thought about it like that," Cedric responded.

"Well, maybe you should," said Harry, giving Cedric a poke in the tummy. Cedric smiled.

At the same time, Ron entered from brushing his teeth and, seeing them on the bed together, asked, "You sure you two don't need any time to, er, celebrate?"

"You're very considerate to offer," said Cedric, "but no, thank you. I don't know that we could get away with that two nights in a row."

"No problem, so long as you don't go changing your minds in the middle of the night," Ron said. "It might be for the best anyway. I had to tell my brothers why I needed to be in their room last night, and I can't promise Fred didn't use Extendible Ears to eavesdrop on you two."

Harry and Cedric blushed profusely at this revelation.

**End Notes:** I recently rewatched the entire second season of Gossip Girl, so in my mind I keep seeing Chace Crawford (aka Nate Archibald) as Cedric and Connor Paolo (aka Eric van der Woodsen) as Harry. Odd, yet somehow it totally makes sense.  
Sorry I didn't get this out sooner. More to come! –kevo


	4. Back to School Again

**Title:** Sound of the Revolution, Chapter 04  
**Author:** kevo  
**Pairing:** Harry + Cedric.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** I do not claim ownership to these characters or the series they're from.  
**Summary:** In his fifth year, Harry faces ostracism with boyfriend Cedric for coming out and for declaring Voldemort has returned. (Order of the Phoenix canon re-write.)

The Love So Green Collection

Playlist #2:

sound of the revolution

**CHAPTER FOUR**

"Back to School Again"

The rest of the summer at 12 Grimmauld Place was exceptionally uneventful compared to the ordeal with the dementors and Cedric's hearing. Under normal circumstances, Harry might've found being confined to the old house and forced to clean it daily frustrating and mind-numbingly tedious. However, with Voldemort on the rise once more, action was imminent, and maybe even more than they could handle. Any small respite they could get before then was to be treasured.

And things weren't so bad, really. Harry got to see Cedric on a daily basis, instead of the two or three times a week they'd been seeing each other before. Plus he had the others now too, like Ron and Hermione and Sirius. The housecleaning was a pain, but the small glimmer of a chance that he could live there someday with Sirius made it worthwhile. Every few days Harry and Cedric even managed to arrange some "alone time", which was always more than enough to sate Harry's boredom.

The day after the trial, Cedric went home for an hour while he knew his father would be at work. He returned with belongings he'd left behind the night he stormed out, things he would need for his return to Hogwarts, including his school trunk and broom. His owl, Bowman, joined Hedwig and Pigwidgeon at the top of the dresser in the room Cedric shared with Harry and Ron. The three formed a very small, very irritated parliament of owls, constantly scowling at their owners for being cooped up.

It was strange for Harry to be cohabitating with his boyfriend, considering they hadn't even been dating for a year yet. It also further illustrated the fact that he still had much to learn about the older boy.

For one thing, though Harry already knew he enjoyed cooking, he'd never experienced Cedric's skills for himself before. Cedric had to do a fair amount of cajoling before he could convince Mrs. Weasley to let him help with some of the meals, but eventually his unquestionable charm (of the non-magical variety) won her over. He proved himself, right off the bat, to be an excellent cook. Truth be told, Mrs. Weasley seemed relieved to discover this. Preparing food for every member of the Order that passed through headquarters had to be a daunting task, especially with so little help.

Harry also had never seen Cedric primp before. That was the word Ron had used, and Harry immediately snapped at him in Cedric's defense, because it made Cedric sound girly. Yet even as he defended his boyfriend to Ron, Harry couldn't argue that the word was rather accurate. Cedric spent more time grooming than either Harry or Ron did. Then again, Harry's hair was always so much more unmanageable than Cedric's that he rarely bothered with it. Plus, he certainly did enjoy the results of Cedric's labor.

Another thing Harry discovered was that Cedric was much more of a morning person than he was. While Cedric almost always tended to wake with a perfectly pleasant disposition, Harry was more prone to bemoan the loss of his pillow and blankets for at least ten to twenty minutes. This was really the only area in which the boys were incompatible. Harry was also, under normal circumstances, inclined to be a lot messier than Cedric. Because he was a guest in Sirius's house, however, Harry made more of an effort to keep his room tidy. It wasn't too difficult, he simply followed Cedric's example.

It was a pretty decent life, all things considered. Harry found himself disappointed to be losing it as the summer came to an end. Of course, that may've also been because of his uneasiness about returning to school.

The morning before they were to leave for Hogwarts, their booklists arrived, unconscionably late, as Hermione put it. Cedric's and Ron's both came with an extra parcel that Harry's did not; prefect badges. Harry was stunned; he had completely forgotten that prefects were chosen starting in their fifth year. He wasn't the only one who was surprised, either. Fred and George were not only shocked and disgusted that their brother had been chosen, but astonished that Harry hadn't been.

"We thought you were a cert!" Fred told him.

"Yeah, everybody knows you're Dumbledore's favorite," George agreed. "We figured he was bound to pick you! Then again," he continued, turning to his twin, "all the mad stuff he's done can't've helped his chances."

"Ahh, yes," said Fred. "Can't have a bad boy as prefect." He gave Harry a cordial one-armed squeeze. "At least one of you's got his head on right, yeah?"

"Hands off, Weasley," Cedric warned him playfully.

"Oops, sorry, Diggory," Fred replied, removing his arm at once.

"Oh, and you know Mum is going to be sickening," George whined.

"It's not that big a deal, guys," said Harry, though he didn't truly believe that. He did, however, notice that their antics were making Ron's ears go pink. "Lay off him already."

The twins gave Harry a strange look, like they couldn't believe the words were coming from him.

"Blimey, maybe Dumbledore **should've** picked you," muttered George.

And on that note, they both Disapparated with a sharp bang.

Harry watched Ron stare at his shiny new badge in disbelief, unsure how he should feel about it himself. Were Fred and George right? Should he have been chosen instead of Ron?

_And why is that?_ Harry asked himself. _Do you really think you deserve it more than him?_

It was a tough question. True, Harry had pulled off a number of heroic deeds in his time, more than any fifteen-year-old he knew of, but did those merit being named prefect? Looking solely at his academic record, he was an average student, and, like George pointed out, a bit of a rule-breaker. Not exactly prefect material. More so than Ron, he thought, but then, when it came down to it, did he even want the job? Probably not.

It still didn't help Harry's insecurity when Hermione rushed in thinking he'd gotten it. It probably didn't help Ron's either, for that matter. After learning it'd gone to Ron, and giving a very awkward congratulation, Hermione turned to Cedric.

"What about you, did yours come?" she asked breathlessly, still slightly flushed. "I'd love to see it."

"Sure," he said, handing her his badge. "Don't know why you'd want to, though. Mine's the same as yours."

"Same as – oh," said Hermione, as though she had just realized something truly horrible. "This is really not my morning. Sorry."

"Why're you sorry?" Ron inquired.

"Nothing, it's nothing," Hermione said. "We should all go downstairs for breakfast."

"It's okay, Hermione," said Cedric. "I'm not bothered."

"Not bothered by **what**?" Ron demanded.

"By the fact that I wasn't made Head Boy," Cedric answered.

"Oh."

"I'm sure Dumbledore has a good reason," Hermione insisted. "You know, he like didn't want to put any more stress on you, with everything that's happened. Head Boy is a big responsibility."

"Yeah, it is," Cedric concurred. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. Let's go eat, I'm starved."

They shuffled out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen. Harry held Cedric back a little, sliding a comforting arm around the taller boy's waist.

"Hermione's right, you know," Harry told him. "You and I are going to have a lot in our cauldrons this year. Maybe Dumbledore just didn't want you to take on more than you already have."

"Harry, I'm okay," said Cedric. "Honestly. I'm disappointed, but it's not like I wasn't expecting it, with everything that's happened. Actually, I'd thought they might even take away my prefect status, so it isn't even all that bad." Harry didn't appear convinced, so Cedric nudged him playfully. "Come on, Harry. You'd know if I wasn't being honest."

He tapped the scar on his neck, and Harry knew right away what he meant. It was a good point, too. Their Scar Sense would've tipped Harry off if the older boy was lying about his feelings. He could sense disappointment coming from Cedric, and sadness, but no more than he just admitted to.

"You're right," Harry said. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to bug you about it or whatever."

"You could never bug me, I know you're only concerned," Cedric replied. "And that's good. Knowing that I've got someone who cares, it helps. Makes it all easier to cope with."

"Oh, well, in that case, I'm not sorry, and I'll feel free to bug the crap out of you," Harry informed him.

Cedric laughed as they walked into the kitchen, where Mrs. Weasley was hugging Ron fiercely and sobbing with joy.

O O O O O O O

Seeing the way Mrs. Weasley gushed when she found out Ron was made prefect, and how proud that made the youngest Weasley son, eradicated any conflicting feelings Harry may've felt over the situation. Whether Ron had truly earned the title or not, he certainly deserved the admiration he was getting for it. After all, wasn't part of the reason they fought last year that Harry was always in the spotlight, while Ron was left standing in his shadow? Harry couldn't begrudge him the opportunity to be the center of attention, not when he already had more fame and praise already than he felt worthy of.

The rest of the day was a celebration of Ron's, as well as Hermione's, accomplishment. There was even a party to mark the occasion instead of the usual dinner. No one spoke of Cedric's lack of promotion, and it was soon forgotten. By all except Hermione, that is. Though she tried to put bright spin on the situation for Cedric, Hermione made her true feelings about it known to Harry in private.

"I think it's shameful," she said, with a ferocity she reserved specifically for academic injustice. "He deserves it more than anyone in his year."

"I know that," Harry agreed. "I'm sure Dumbledore knows it, too. It's probably the thing you said, about stress and stuff. Cedric and I are going to be facing a lot this year. Hell, it'd be a lot even if Voldemort wasn't back, just with coming out and everything."

"That doesn't make it right," Hermione insisted.

"No," Harry replied. "It doesn't. But things are hard enough for him as it is. The last thing Cedric needs is for you to make this into one of your S.P.E.W. crusades. What he really needs is for you to be his friend."

The shamed expression on Hermione's face made Harry wonder if he'd gone too far. He didn't like throwing in Hermione's face how little she understood about the pressure and scrutiny he and Cedric were under, but there were times when she made it difficult not to.

"You're right," said Hermione remorsefully. "I wasn't thinking. At least, not like a friend. I'll let it go."

"Thanks," said Harry. "Sorry I snapped."

"No, it's okay," she replied. "Sometimes I get too wrapped up in these things, social causes and the like. I need someone to remind me to be a person."

"Wow, I'm getting carte blanche to be rude from everyone today," Harry noted. "First Cedric, now you." Curious to see how far he could press his luck, Harry continued, "Hey, speaking of reminding you to be a person, about you and Ron..."

"And suddenly I'm very tired," Hermione replied flatly, making for the stairs.

"Hermione, you can't ignore this forever!" Harry called after her.

"We'll see about that."

Uneager to get into an argument on their last night of summer, Harry let her go. Even though Ron and Hermione's problems did affect Harry, that didn't make them his mess to fix. The time and energy he would've expended forcing her to talk was better spent cozying up to his boyfriend while they still shared a bed. So, once he heard Hermione's bedroom door close, he headed up the stairs to his own room. He heard some people in the drawing room as he passed by it, what sounded like a distressed Mrs. Weasley being comforted by Sirius and Lupin. He decided not to intrude, and proceeded quickly up the rest of the stairs. Cedric was already there, shirtless and just finishing pulling on a pair of pajama bottoms.

"Hey," he said with a smile. He reached for a T-shirt to pull on, but Harry grabbed it first, holding it away from him.

"Ooh, hang on," said Harry, "I want to get a good look at you. I don't know when I'll get a chance to see you with your shirt off again."

"It won't be all that long," Cedric assured him. "In fact, don't be surprised if I show up outside your dormitory tomorrow night looking for a little action."

"Don't make offers like that if you don't intend to follow through on them, Mr. Diggory," Harry said, wrapping his arms around Cedric's bare torso.

Cedric took Harry's face in his hands and the two kissed. Things were just starting to get heated when the door opened abruptly.

"Hey, have either of you seen my – OH, GROSS!"

The door instantly slammed shut again, with Ron on the other side of it.

"Could you maybe warn a bloke when you intend to do stuff like that?" Ron called through the door. "That's not the sort of thing I want to be walking into the middle of."

"We weren't doing anything!" Harry argued, going to the door. He opened it to find Ron standing on the other side, hands over his eyes. "Oh, you're not overreacting at all."

"I'm gonna go and, I don't know, brush my teeth or something," said Ron. "You two finish whatever it is you are or aren't doing. I'll be back in fifteen minutes."

He started down the stairs with his eyes still covered, a move that Harry might've cautioned Ron against were he not behaving so childishly. Harry closed the door and turned back around, finding, to his dismay, that Cedric had put on the shirt. Rather than pout, Harry went about changing into his own pajamas.

"We get interrupted a lot while we're fooling around," Cedric observed.

"Yet you scoff at me wondering when we'll find time to do it again," said Harry. "Oh, I wish I hadn't said 'do it', that sounds so lame."

"'Make sweet, beautiful love'?" Cedric offered.

"Better, but still kind of lame."

"'Fuck like nymphs?"

"Crude, but not entirely inaccurate," Harry chuckled.

"Are you really worried about it?" asked Cedric. "We never had trouble finding time to be together before. And that was on top of the Triwizard Tournament."

"It's different now," said Harry. "We're going to have Quidditch this year. Practice is going to take up a lot of our time. And, now that we're out, people are going to be paying more attention to what we do. Before no one would've ever thought we were sneaking off together, so they didn't notice."

"We've still got the Room of Requirement," Cedric reminded him. "No one can find us there if we don't want them to. Hey, c'mere."

Cedric motioned for Harry to join him on the bed. He lay back, and Harry climbed on top of him, resting his head over the older boy's heart.

"Last year was just so perfect," Harry said. "Only a few people who really mattered knew about us. We had our privacy. Things are going to be so different. And then, like that wasn't enough to worry about, there's all the stuff with Voldemort" – he felt Cedric tense slightly beneath him hearing the name – "and the papers. We have no idea what kind of situation we're walking into at Hogwarts."

"What was that thing Hagrid said at the end of last year?" said Cedric. "The thing about, what was it… whatever happens is going to happen, and we'll deal with it when it comes? It's like that. We don't know what's going to happen this year. A meteor could hit us and destroy the whole world."

"Cheery," Harry quipped.

"My point is that we don't know what's going to happen. So there's no sense worrying about it. We love each other, and we'll find a way to be together, no matter what happens."

"I hope so," said Harry. Suddenly his scar burned with pain and his stomach roiled. "Ah! Ah! Ah!"

"What's the matter?" Cedric asked anxiously.

"Scar," Harry replied, rubbing his forehead.

"I just realized," said Cedric, "I don't feel anything when you get scar pain. Normally we can sense each others' feelings, especially when we're this close, but when yours is related to You-Know-Who I get nothing. Do you think that's significant?"

"Not sure," Harry replied irritably. He didn't really feel like sharing hypotheses while his scar was still stinging.

"Here, let me."

Cedric leaned in and kissed Harry's scar. The place where his lips touched Harry's forehead instantly went numb to the pain. This effect slowly spread through Harry's whole head.

"It's gone," Harry marveled, touching his scar gingerly. "The pain is completely gone." He looked up at his boyfriend. "I'd say that was **definitely** significant."

"That's one reason at least that it's good we're going back to school tomorrow," said Cedric. "We'll be able to talk to Dumbledore about stuff like that."

Harry wanted to point out that, after having gone all summer with no answers from Dumbledore about their Scar Sense, he didn't have a lot of faith that the headmaster would be more forthcoming upon their return to Hogwarts. Instead he merely nodded, and lay in silence on Cedric's chest until they both fell asleep.

O O O O O O O

Considering how much Harry normally relished returning to Hogwarts, this year the trek to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters felt more like he was marching to his doom. The feeling was exacerbated by Sirius's insistence that he accompany them to King's Cross in his dog form, despite how risky it was and the fact that Dumbledore had told him not to. Harry's nerves ebbed gradually, however, when he saw how overjoyed Padfoot was to be free of his dreary prisonlike home. It was hard to be too stressed when watching your godfather chase his own tail.

They arrived at King's Cross Station in about twenty minutes' time. With as much nervousness and uncertainty as he experienced the very first time he did it when he was eleven, Harry crossed through the magical barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten. He half expected the gathered crowd to stop dead and stare upon his arrival. To Harry's surprise and relief, few people even appeared to have noticed that he was there. Those who did barely even acknowledged him, more preoccupied with their own affairs.

Once they were all on the platform, the farewells began. Mrs. Weasley looked like she was trying her hardest not to cry as she bid her children goodbye. Cedric glanced around the platform a few times before shaking his head ruefully. Harry could tell what he was doing; looking to see if his own parents had shown up to say goodbye to him. Harry was going to say something when he felt Lupin pat him on the shoulder and grasp his hand.

"Harry," Lupin said affectionately. He turned to Cedric and did the same. "Cedric. You two be careful now, you hear me?"

"Yes, sir," Cedric said with a feeble smile.

"Keep your heads down and your eyes peeled," said Moody, shaking the boys' hands as well. His grip was oddly less aggressive that Harry might've guessed. "Remember, now, all of you: be careful what you put in writing. If you're not sure it's safe, don't put it at all."

"C'mere, you two, quick," said Mrs. Weasley as the train's warning whistle blew. She pulled Harry and Cedric at the same time into a hug. "You look out for each other." In a tone she must've thought Harry couldn't hear, she whispered to Cedric, "Make sure you take good care of him."

"I always do," Cedric whispered back.

"Promise me you'll be good!" Mrs. Weasley called after the departing students as they boarded the train. "I know **you** won't, Fred, and there's no need to roll your eyes at me!"

They all laughed and waved as the train pulled out of the station. Ginny, George and Fred then parted ways with the others, Fred and George explaining that they had business to attend to with their friend Lee Jordan, and Ginny not explaining at all.

"Let's go find a compartment," suggested Harry.

"We're all supposed to go to the prefect carriage," said Hermione, who was obviously uncomfortable being the one to tell him this. "Me and Ron and Cedric. We have to get instructions from the Head Boy and Girl."

"Right," Harry chirped, trying his best to sound positive while being abandoned by his closest companions. "Well. Have fun then. I'll see you at school."

"It's not the whole ride there," Cedric informed them. "We get our instructions, that takes an hour tops, and then we patrol the corridors every now and then. We'll be back before you know it."

"I am not looking forward to this," whined Ron.

"How do you think _**I**_ feel?" Cedric responded. "Maybe I could just skip it this year, stick with Harry instead."

"Okay!" Harry agreed eagerly. Then, catching Hermione's reproachful look, he said, "I mean, no. No. You should go to the prefect carriage. I'll be fine on my own."

"Harry's right," said Hermione. "This might not be the most ideal situation to walk into, but it would look even worse if you don't show up."

"Of course," Cedric nodded. "I know that, I'd never really skip, I'm just dreading this."

"You'll be fine," said Ron. "You've got me and Hermione to back you up."

"Yeah, I guess I do," said Cedric, as though realizing it for the first time himself. He turned to Harry, biting his lip. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Yes, I think I can manage without you lot for sixty minutes," Harry smirked. "I'll go catch up with Ginny."

"All right then."

For a moment they both hesitated. Having barely been out a week before the previous school year ended, they hadn't had much time to figure out what sort of display of affection was acceptable for them. Even if they had, they'd now been removed from the public for so long that they forgot how to behave with each other in the wizarding world. There wasn't likely to be a passenger on the Hogwarts Express who didn't know they were together, so they didn't have to be as formal as they were in Little Whinging. Yet they were still two gay boys living in a predominantly heterosexual world. With an air of 'oh, fuck it', Cedric finally ducked forward and gave Harry a kiss on the cheek.

"See you," he said.

"Yeah," said Harry. "See you."

Then Cedric set off toward the end of the train, with Ron and Hermione in tow. Once they had moved on to the next car, Harry followed down the way Ginny had gone. He found her in a compartment with Neville Longbottom and an odd-looking blonde girl with her wand tucked behind her ear. He knocked on the window and pulled the door open.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Of course not," said Ginny. "Come on in, Neville was just about to show us what his _Mimbulus mimbletonia_ can do."

"I really hope you're referring to that plant he's holding," replied Harry as he shut the door behind him.

No more than minute later, Harry was covered in Stinksap and deeply regretting stepping foot in the same compartment as Neville and the stupid plant he was holding. He was just spitting out a mouthful of the slimy stuff when Cho Chang appeared.

"Trying a new look, Harry?" she asked, amused.

"Yeah, and I'm more than willing to share if you'll come closer," Harry threatened.

"All right, no need to get spiky just because you're all sticky," Cho replied. "Er, I suppose Ric's in the compartment with the prefects and all them, yeah?"

"He is," said Harry.

"Okay," said Cho. "Um. Tell him I stopped by. I guess. When you see him." She paused a second, then uttered, "Well, bye then," before taking off.

"She is rather flighty," observed the blonde girl, Luna. "It's commonly believed to be a Ravenclaw trait. Some even say that I am a bit." Without waiting for a response, she returned to reading her magazine upside-down.

After about an hour, Ron and Hermione appeared. Cedric was not with them. When Harry asked why, Hermione told him that the Head Girl had asked him to stay behind for a minute so they could speak privately. She then went on to tell everyone who the fifth year prefects of the other three houses were. Luna had just told Ron that Padma Patil, the new female Ravenclaw prefect, did not enjoy her date with Ron to the Yule Ball last year when Cedric joined them at last, thoroughly disgruntled.

"It's getting rather crowded in here," Ginny said when he came in, rising from her seat. "I think I'll go visit with some of the other girls in my year."

"Ginny, wait!" Hermione pleaded.

"It's fine, Hermione," said Ginny. "I'll see you all at school."

Harry made no effort to stop her. If the girl wanted to carry on this way, making a fuss over Cedric being around, that was her choice. Harry wasn't going to bend to her stubbornness.

"So, what took you so long?" Harry asked Cedric as the boy sat beside him. "Hermione said you were talking to the Head Girl, is something wrong?"

"Apparently, the Head Boy and Girl feel it'd be in my best interest not to join the other prefects in patrolling the train this year," Cedric replied stormily. "They're afraid that, given everything that's going on right now, it might incite students to act out against me."

"Lucky you," said Ron. "Wish it was in **my** best interest to sit around and do nothing the rest of the way to Hogwarts."

"I don't think that's how Cedric sees it," Hermione chided softly.

"It sounds like a demotion to me," chirped Luna from behind her magazine. "A prefect being prohibited from taking part in his normal duties."

"Yes, that would be the tactless way of saying it," Hermione murmured.

"I'd rather not even talk about it," said Cedric. "It's – whatever – it is what it is. It stinks, but I'm not going to argue with them about it."

"They may be right, you know," Hermione said, looking hesitant to agree with the Heads' decree. "We don't know what most people are thinking yet, about you two and everything. The safest thing for you to do, for now, might be staying away."

"Yeah," said Cedric hollowly.

"Hey, look on the bright side: this means you get to spend more time with me," Harry pointed out.

"Well, it's hard to be too upset with a bright side like that," Cedric replied, giving him a slight smile. He slipped an arm across Harry's shoulders.

"Ugh, that is downright repulsive."

Five out of the six in the compartment all swiftly looked toward the door. (Luna's attention remained fixed on her magazine.) Standing there was Draco Malfoy, flanked by his constant flunkies Crabbe and Goyle, an expression of utmost revulsion distorting his already-sour countenance.

"If you must turn queer, Potter," said Malfoy, "the least you can do is keep it in private. It's no wonder Weasley got picked for prefect over you. Anyone would be more preferable than a disgusting wand-biter."

"If that's true, then how come I'm a prefect?" asked Cedric squarely.

"Prefect, maybe, but I couldn't help noticing you weren't made Head Boy," Malfoy replied smoothly. "Well, that is unless you count what people are saying about you behind your back..."

"That's enough, Malfoy!" snapped Harry.

"The two triumphant Triwizard champions of Hogwarts, both snubbed by their beloved headmaster," Malfoy commented. "That must truly sting."

"Just get out of here!" shouted Hermione, standing up to face him.

"As if I wish to stay," Malfoy sneered. "Just thought I'd warn you to watch yourself, Potter. Now that I'm a prefect, I'll be **dogging** your footsteps, just waiting for you to step out of line."

With a foul snicker, Malfoy allowed Hermione to chase him and his cohorts out. After slamming the door behind him, she turned to Harry, clearly as shaken by Malfoy's choice of words as Harry was. As neither Ron nor Cedric seemed to have noticed, and their current company prevented them from speaking freely, Harry tried to put the comment out of his mind for the time being. Perhaps it had simply been a coincidence. Harry hoped so, anyway.

O O O O O O O

After Malfoy's visit, the rest of the train ride to Hogwarts was rather dull. Ginny did not return until Ron and Hermione had already departed to oversee the students' disembarkation from the train. As Cedric had chosen not to join them, figuring those duties were on the same level as hall patrol, the girl entered only to grab her things and then make a hasty retreat. The remaining four all gathered their belonging and exited onto the platform together. There Harry was dismayed to discover that Hagrid was conspicuously absent, with Professor Grubbly-Plank herding the first years in his place.

Any dark wonderings about where Hagrid may have been were then abruptly shunted aside when he saw the hideous and terrifying things that were now pulling the once horseless carriages. Passing students seemed to take no notice of the frightful creatures, passing by as if they weren't even there. Harry thought he was going mad until he noticed Cedric staring, just as horrified, though less surprised, in the same direction.

"Ohh, Merlin, there is just no preparing yourself for something like this," Cedric murmured.

"You see them, too?" Harry asked.

"I do," Cedric replied. "I wasn't really expecting to, but I guess it makes sense. They're thestrals."

"And those would be what exactly?" Harry pressed.

"Flying horses," Cedric explained. "They're what pull the carriages."

"Since when?"

"Since always," said Cedric. "You should be learning about them this year, actually. Hagrid did them with us in my fifth. You can only see them if you've seen death."

_If you've seen death,_ Harry repeated to himself.

They never did get a concrete answer for what had happened to them when Harry attempted to shield Cedric from Peter Pettigrew's Killing Curse months earlier. However, if their test with Harry's silver Snitch locket counted for anything, they had almost certainly been touched by death, at least in some small way.

"How come we didn't see them at the end of last year?" Harry wondered.

"Had **you** fully accepted what happened to us by the time we left?" Cedric asked. "I know I hadn't. I still haven't, but I guess now that the shock's worn off…"

He let the sentence remain unfinished, and a moment later they were rejoined by Ron and Hermione. Like Cedric had told him, neither of them detected the presence of the thestrals. The four boarded a carriage together, Harry bringing up the rear, watching the unsavory beasts warily.

First Hagrid missing, now this ominous reminder of the night Lord Voldemort returned to the world. The school year was already off to a bad start.

**End Notes:** The scar-kiss thing was a spur-of-the-moment decision. It is significant, but not in terms of established canon or defeating Voldemort.  
Sorry I've been such a moody bitch about readership and such. I'm going through a lot of changes in my personal life, and finishing up college, so I'm a bit out of sorts. I might take a bit of a break from updating. Clear my head, you know? There will definitely be a chapter next month, though. Have I ever missed posting on December 7th in the four years (holy shit!) years that I've been posting this story? No, I have not. I'm going to try and keep true to that for as long as there is a story to tell.  
Til then, kiddies. Much love. -kevo


	5. Easier to Lie

**Title:** Sound of the Revolution, Chapter 05

**Author:** kevo

**Pairing:** Harry + Cedric. Four years strong.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim ownership to these characters or the series they're from.

**Summary:** In his fifth year, Harry faces ostracism with boyfriend Cedric for coming out and for declaring Voldemort has returned. (Order of the Phoenix canon re-write.)

The Love So Green Collection

Playlist #2:

sound of the revolution

**CHAPTER FIVE**

"Easier to Lie"

Entering the Great Hall for the first time of the year was always equally a good and a bad thing, from Harry's perspective. It was always wonderful seeing the old castle, and all of his school friends, again. Yet no matter how many years he attended Hogwarts, there was still the inevitable wave of heads turning in his direction, and this year was no exception. If anything, the number of people gaping in his direction had increased, exponentially so. Harry tried to ignore them. He had enough on his mind already, with Hagrid still missing, not to mention his recent and disturbing discovery of thestrals.

As Harry, Cedric, Ron and Hermione neared the far end of the Great Hall, Cedric split from the other three to sit at the Hufflepuff table. There was no kiss-on-the-cheek goodbye this time, only a small, stony-faced nod. With every eye in the Hall on them, Harry didn't blame Cedric for his stoicism, but any sign of affection would've done wonders to bolster Harry's own confidence. The three Gryffindors found seats at their own table, and within minutes the Sorting was underway.

As new students were Sorted into their various houses, Harry looked up to the staff table and saw, for the first time since he last sat in the Great Hall, Albus Dumbledore. The headmaster was watching the Sorting with the same mildly amused expression Harry so often saw him wearing. Despite the ill will Harry felt toward the man lately, he still found Dumbledore's presence to be a comfort.

The feast itself was mostly uneventful. There was a lot of discussion about the meaning behind the Sorting Hat's song, Hermione being the first to point out the irony of a Hat meant to Sort students into separate Houses advocating unity. Harry opted not to participate in the conversation, though the Hat had left him with some heavy thoughts. His initial reaction to the idea of inter-House unity was to scoff. He could imagine no circumstance under which he'd ever be chummy with a Slytherin

Then he recalled Fred and George's New Year's party, when the twins nearly threw out a seemingly innocent younger student simply for being a Slytherin. Cedric had immediately jumped to the boy's defense. It was Cedric, the Hufflepuff, who had been courageous that night, while Fred and George, both Gryffindors, were the ones behaving like bigots. Perhaps where the Sorting Hat chose to place you didn't mean anything, in the end.

Harry's eyes wandered over to the Hufflepuff table, an old habit they returned to easily now that he was back in the Great Hall. He was able to locate Cedric in a matter of seconds. The boy was not sitting among those Harry normally saw him with. His head was bowed over his plate as he prodded the food on it apathetically with his fork. Harry thought back to last year's Welcome Feast, when he discreetly snuck glances at Cedric with his Hufflepuff friends, laughing and smiling. Harry couldn't help feeling he was to blame for the loneliness Cedric was now suffering. Were it not for him, Cedric would be surrounded by friends now. He knew what Cedric would say to that; that he'd rather be honest and happy with Harry than living a lie without him. Yet even with this reassurance, Harry's guilt remained.

As the feasting wound down, Dumbledore rose to make his usual announcements. The news that Grubbly-Plank would be taking over Care of Magical Creatures, with no addendum on the location of the subject's former teacher, made Harry's spirits sink even lower than they already were. The appointment of Dolores Umbridge as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher didn't mean much to him, only that she had his pity, for she, like those before her, was probably not long for the job. It did appear to mean something to Hermione, however, whose brow was furrowed.

"Dolores Umbridge," she repeated. "That name sounds familiar."

Now that she pointed it out, Harry did think he'd heard the name before. Unable to place where, he simply shrugged. Like everyone else, he was then taken aback by the woman's blatant interruption of the headmaster. Also like everyone else, Harry chose to ignore Dolores Umbridge's long-winded speech. Harry looked over at Cedric, who was listening the new teacher speak. This didn't surprise Harry. What did was the expression of extreme distaste that he wore as he watched her. Harry turned to Hermione and Ron.

"Why d'you think Cedric looks so mad?" he asked. "Do you reckon he knows who Umbridge is?"

"That's it!" Hermione hissed. "Don't you remember? Cedric's trial. She was there! She's one of the ones who voted against him."

"Really? But she seems so sweet," Ron said dryly.

"What's she doing teaching Defense if she's from the Ministry?" Harry wondered.

"Good question," muttered Hermione. "Now hush, I'm trying to listen."

The boys remained obediently silent for the rest of Umbridge's speechifying. Once the toad-like woman finally finished, and Hermione and Ron began bickering over what her words meant, Harry waited for Dumbledore's dismissal, poised on the edge of his seat like a runner waiting for the starter's pistol. As soon as the headmaster gave the word, he was off, weaving between students to reach the Hufflepuff table. Cedric was barely up before Harry reached him.

"Some speech, eh?" Cedric observed.

"Hermione said it meant something like the Ministry's interfering here," said Harry.

"I gathered the same thing."

"Are you okay?" Harry asked. "I know she was at your hearing."

"And voted to have my wand taken from me," Cedric added grimly. "It doesn't really bode well for me. Nothing has so far today. Everyone keeps staring at my neck. You'd think I was attacked by a vampire or something."

"Now you know how I felt when you gave me a hickey last March," Harry said.

"It's not really the same thing," Cedric replied snappishly. Then, seeing Harry's wounded reaction, he sagged, frowning. "Sorry. I shouldn't take my bad mood out on you."

"Unless it's between the sheets," said Harry, an impish smile upturning the corners of his mouth.

"Tempting offer," said Cedric, now with a small grin to match Harry's, "but I've got to help the other prefects shepherd the first years. At least they haven't taken away **all** of my duties yet."

"Oh, all right," Harry groaned. "But you owe me one."

"I owe you a lot more than one," Cedric told him. He placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, then, like he had on the train, wavered a second before swooping down to kiss Harry on the cheek. He pulled back blushing. "Well, good night, then."

"Yeah," said Harry, only now realizing that he and Cedric wouldn't be sleeping in the same bed for the first time in almost a month. "Love you."

"Love you, too," Cedric smiled.

While Cedric disappeared into the crowd, calling out for first year Hufflepuffs, Harry followed the flow of traffic out of the Great Hall.

He found himself amazed at how small the confused-looking first years appeared. It was all too easy to forget how much he'd grown since he was their age. Seeing the pint-sized first years underlined this fact, and allayed the unease he had felt earlier in the summer about the difference in age between he and his boyfriend. He was not a little boy anymore.

He was almost at the Fat Lady when he realized he didn't know the new password. Luckily a group that did was entering right ahead of him, so he slipped in with them. Harry made a mental note to ask Ron later what it was. He took the stairs up to his dormitory, where he found Neville, Dean, and Seamus already unpacking their things.

"Evening, all," said Harry. "Seamus, Dean. How was everyone's break?"

"Mine was all right," Dean replied. "Probably better than Seamus's, anyway."

"Why, what happened, Seamus?" asked Neville, changing the position of his new plant from the bedside table to the window sill.

There was a long, unusually tense silence. Then, finally, Seamus spoke.

"Me mum didn't want me to come back to Hogwarts."

Something about his tone told Harry that he really didn't want to know why. Because he could already guess what the reason was. Neville, however, did not seem to possess the same amount insight, and pressed on.

"That's weird," the boy said. "How come?"

"Well," Seamus said after another lengthy pause, "I suppose... it's because of Harry. And Dumbledore."

And there it was. The thing Harry had been dreading since his name started appearing slanderously in the papers.

"I don't understand," said Neville.

"Leave it alone, Neville," Harry urged him.

"No, really, what do they have to do with it?

"Let me guess," Harry muttered, unable to prevent his irritation from slowly rising. "Your mum reads the _Daily Prophet_."

"So what if she does?" barked Seamus.

Harry chose not to answer. He didn't want to pursue the conversation, which had potential to rapidly develop into a fight, any further. There was always a possibility of something like this happening, Harry knew that, had known for weeks and weeks. He'd hoped it wouldn't, but he was never naïve enough to truly believe that.

He quickly changed into his pajamas, hoping to get into bed before anyone could say anything else to him. Harry was on the verge of pulling his bed curtains closed when Seamus spoke again.

"It's just... That night," he said. "No one really knows what happened."

"Yes you do," said Harry. "Dumbledore told you. He told the whole school."

"All he said was that You-Know-Who came back, and that you and Diggory were there," Seamus shot back.

"Yeah, we were, and Cedric has the scar on his neck to prove it," Harry replied, leaping off his bed. "But if you and your mother would rather believe the papers than Dumbledore, whatever, I really don't care right now."

"Don't you start on my mother," Seamus warned.

"Why shouldn't I?" asked Harry. "She's the one calling me and my boyfriend liars."

Seamus's expression contorted into a hideous mixture of disgust and fury.

"So it's true, then," he said. "You and Diggory."

"It's **all** true," Harry confirmed. "What is this? You knew we were together. The whole school knew by the end of last year."

"People talked, maybe, but nobody **knew**," Seamus replied. "There were rumors. No one was certain, though. All anyone knew was that you two were spending a lot of time together. I thought it was all dragonshit. I never suspected you were actually queer!"

"What the hell's going on in here?"

It was Ron who spoke, having entered somewhere in the middle of Seamus's last response.

"Did you know Potter's a homo?" Seamus demanded.

"Don't call him that!" Ron snapped. "And so what if he's gay? What's the big deal?"

"He sleeps in the same room as us!" cried Seamus, as though nothing more needed to be said on the matter.

"Afraid I'm going to molest you while you sleep?" Harry scoffed. "Don't worry, mate. You're not my type."

"That's not funny! Two men together," he spat, like the words had an awful taste to them. "It's sick. And it's wrong!"

"That sounds an awful lot like Death Eater talk for someone whose mother married a Muggle," Harry remarked.

"I told you to leave my mother out of it!"

"That's enough!" shouted Ron.

"How can you defend him!?" Seamus screeched. "He's a fucking pervert!"

"Yeah, well I'm a prefect, so unless you want detention you're going to shut the hell up right now, Finnigan," said Ron.

Harry was impressed. Ron, who normally shrank under pressure, was being more forceful than Harry had ever seen him before. Maybe Dumbledore really did know what he was doing when he made Ron a prefect.

"Now," Ron continued, "we're all going to sleep. If you still have a problem tomorrow," he told Seamus, "you can go see McGonagall. Either way, that's the last time you talk to Harry like that, got it?"

In lieu of answering, Seamus got into bed and yanked the curtains around it shut.

"What about you?" Harry directed at Dean, who hadn't spoken or even moved during the altercation. "You gonna have a problem like your friend over there?"

"Leave me out of it," said Dean. "I don't care what you do or who you do it with. I just don't wanna see it. So long as you aren't throwing your business in my face, we'll be fine."

"And I knew about you before either of them," Neville pointed out. "I've never had a problem with it."

Harry offered Neville a faint smile as a show of gratitude for his support. Ron patted Harry on the shoulder.

"Why don't you get some rest, mate," he suggested. "You know what they say: things always look better in the morning."

Nodding, Harry climbed into bed once more and crawled under the covers, hoping that Ron was right, but not quite believing he would be.

O O O O O O O

Whoever said that things always looked better in the morning was full of crap.

This was the conclusion that Harry came to the morning after the Welcoming Feast, after his row with Seamus. In fact, it seemed the opposite was true.

Harry thought that a night's sleep might take the edge off the student body's fascination with, and in some instances fear of, him. However, it quickly became clear, as he entered the Great Hall for breakfast, that, if anything, they'd actually gotten worse. The novelty of being reunited with school chums had worn off, so now everyone had moved on to gossip, and Harry Potter was the subject at the top of everyone's list.

He ignored it as best he could, instead joining in on his friends' conversation about new schedules and O.W.L.s. As he was leaving the hall for his first class of the morning, he bumped into Cedric just coming in. The older boy appeared exhausted and incongruously cheerful.

"Morning," Harry greeted him. "You look like hell."

"Ooh, now that's what I love to hear from my boyfriend," Cedric snorted.

"Sorry, I didn't mean – you **always** look handsome, you know that," Harry flushed. "I only meant you look tired."

"I am," Cedric replied. "I was nearly all night with my dorm mates."

"Oh, no," said Harry, thinking of his experience with his fellow Gryffindors. "Did something happen?"

"No, no, it's nothing bad. Actually," he beamed, "it's sort of really good. But I'm going to be late for class if I don't get some breakfast quick, so I'll explain later. Uhh, tonight, after dinner. I'll meet you in the entrance hall?"

"All right."

"Listen, Harry," Cedric said, his tone heavy, "we both need to be careful today. The school's an Erumpent horn over this whole You-Know-Who situation. I think we should just keep our heads down right now, try not to make any waves, you know?"

"Definitely," said Harry, thinking again of Seamus. "The last thing we need right now is any more trouble, right?"

"I'm glad you agree."

And Harry did agree, and had every intention of staying out of trouble. He truly did. He even kept his mouth shut during Potions, where Snape was as foul to him as ever despite their mutual affiliation with the Order of the Phoenix.

But then came Defense Against the Dark Arts.

He probably should've known better than to get involved in the war of words that took place between Professor Umbridge and the rest of his classmates. In fact, he did know better, but he couldn't help himself when she started spouting the same Ministry lies as the _Daily Prophet_.

"So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting out there?" Harry demanded in response to her 'no magic in class' decree.

"There is nothing waiting out there, Mr. Potter," she responded in the most sickeningly sweet voice Harry had ever heard in his life. "Who do you think could possibly want to attack children such as yourself?"

"What about Voldemort?" he asked in earnest. "He's out there, I saw him, he's back and he…"

He trailed off as the shocked outcries of his classmates finally registered in his mind, and he became aware that he'd said the most taboo name in the Wizarding World aloud, and proclaimed the Dark wizard's return, in front of the entire class, in front of a teacher. A teacher who'd been placed at Hogwarts by the Ministry of Magic. The look of satisfaction on Umbridge's face told Harry that it had been no accident either. She had been goading him, trying to provoke a reaction.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter," she announced. "Now, let me make a few things clear. You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has risen from the dead and is currently at large once more. This is a lie." She stared Harry down, as if daring him to respond again. When Harry said nothing, she continued. "The Ministry of Magic guarantees that none of you are in any danger. If you are still concerned, my office door is always open. If someone," again she turned her gaze on Harry, "is feeding you such lies, I would like you to inform me at once. I am here to help you. Now, I would like you to continue your reading. 'Basics for Beginners', page five."

Staring down at his textbook, Harry fought the urge to respond to Umbridge's statement. Once again, he knew he shouldn't. But after months of accusations, people from the Ministry calling him a liar, this was his first chance to confront one of them face to face. To defend himself.

"Professor, it can't be a lie," Harry said quickly, making sure to raise his hand. "I was there! I fought him! If nothing happened the final night of the Triwizard Tournament, then how does the Ministry account for the scar on Cedric Diggory's neck?"

Only then did Umbridge's smug expression falter. For a split second, Harry could've sworn she wore the same expression that Seamus had the night before upon learning that Cedric really was Harry's boyfriend. But it was gone the next instant, replaced by her persistent cheerful smile, though it wasn't as bright as it had been a minute earlier.

"The Ministry does not feel the need to account for such things," Umbridge replied. "As I'm quite sure that you yourself are aware, Mr. Diggory is a felon –"

"He was acquitted!" Harry interrupted. "Those charges were dropped!"

" – and the Ministry of Magic," she continued, raising his voice over his, "does not take the word of known felons and notorious delinquents."

"Cedric is not a delinquent! We were attacked by Lord Voldemort and you know it!"

He really had meant to stay out of trouble.

Instead Harry earned himself a trip to McGonagall's office and a week's worth of detention. McGonagall briefly scolded him for mouthing off to the new teacher, and cautioned him not to cross her again before sending him off to dinner.

At the end of such a long, awful day, Harry was eager to see his boyfriend. He wolfed down dinner so he could get to the entrance hall sooner. He sat on one of the bottom steps of the marble staircase to wait. From there he recalled meeting Cedric there for their first "date". Harry had been so anxious that night, all nervous to be around Cedric alone. He still got that way at time, but it was a different kind of anxiousness, more exhilarated than edgy. It was the way Harry felt as he saw Cedric exit the Great Hall, heading straight for him.

"Hey!" Harry called cheerfully, rising from the stairs.

"Hey," Cedric replied. He lowered his head to give Harry a kiss, grinning at the enthusiasm with which Harry returned it. "I've only got a few minutes, I already have loads of homework. The N.E. in N.E.W.T. is not an exaggeration."

"Oh." Harry struggled to mask his disappointment that their meeting would be so brief. "Okay. So what did you want to tell me?"

"Hm?" said Cedric. "Oh, yeah! Last night! Um, well. You already know how much I was dreading last night, sharing a dorm again after how awkward things were before we left. So I got to my room, and as I'm opening the door I can hear them all talking, but they go dead silent when they see it's me. Clearly they were talking about me, right?"

"Clearly," Harry concurred.

"I ignored it, said hi, went about unpacking and such. Acted like nothing was wrong. After a minute or two, Kellan asked me how my summer was. And it just felt so ridiculous, that he would be asking me that, so I started laughing. And I said to him, 'You're seriously asking **me** how my summer was?' Next thing I knew, all of us were laughing. After that, we were up talking for hours. They told me that stuff with the scar, and me suddenly being gay, it freaked them out, but they've all had time to adjust and they're okay with it. It's such a relief, to know that they accept me, and that they're still on my side. I had to assure them all that I wasn't attracted to any of them, of course."

"Which is a lie," Harry smirked, remembering Cedric talk about his dorm mates last year. "You'd totally do Taylor if you could, or Kellan. Or Peter. Or even Jackson, for that matter."

"I'd only do Jackson under the right circumstances," countered Cedric. "Sometimes he does his hair weird, and that's a turnoff. But you're right, it is mostly a lie. It's not as if I can tell them the truth, that I've lusted after them since we were twelve. Does a straight guy tell his female friends that he fancies them, even when he knows nothing'll come of it, simply for the sake of full disclosure?"

"Hey, I'm not arguing," Harry said. "I'm sure it was the right thing to do. Anyway, it's not as if I blame you. They're all pretty damn hot."

"Hmm, should I be worried?" asked Cedric.

"Nah," said Harry, his hands traveling determinedly down his boyfriend's torso, toward the boy's belt. "I've already got the best seventh year boy at Hogwarts."

"Smooth talking will get you nowhere tonight," Cedric insisted, seizing Harry's hands before they could reach their destination. He kissed Harry's forehead. "But I'll keep it in mind for later. How about you? How was your first night back?"

Harry thought of all the things that'd happened to him since returning to Hogwarts; of Seamus, of Snape, of Umbridge. He'd been waiting all day to talk to Cedric, to take comfort in his reassurances, both verbal and, he'd hoped, physical. The latter was definitely out, Cedric made that profusely clear. And after hearing how well things were going for Cedric, Harry was embarrassed to admit that they weren't going so well for him. Plus, the last thing Harry wanted to do was ruin Cedric's good mood after all the terrible things that'd happened to the Hufflepuff in such a short time.

"Harry?" said Cedric. "You okay?"

"Yes," Harry replied. "Yeah, I'm fine. I mean, it's pretty much what we expected, people looking at me funny, whispering, stuff like that, but, uhh, that's it, really."

"Are you sure?" Cedric asked. "I'm getting this feeling from you that's sort of… off. Like something's bothering you."

"Nope," Harry maintained. "Just been a long day, you know?"

"Yeah," Cedric said. His brow creased slightly as he looked the younger boy over, but then he gave Harry a tight smile. "We'll just have to get used to it, I suppose. Listen, I've really got to get going – homework and all that – are you certain everything is all right?"

"Totally," said Harry. "It's fine, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay," said Cedric. He gave Harry a quick peck on the lips, pulling away before Harry could even try to make it any deeper. "Love you."

"Love you too," Harry muttered to Cedric's retreating back.

_So much for that bit of comfort,_ Harry thought gloomily.

O O O O O O O

After yet another long and stressful day, Harry went into his first detention with Umbridge with exceedingly low expectations. He did not anticipate the possibility that it would be worse than he was prepared for, yet it was.

All Harry wanted to do now was get back to his room. When he reached the stairs, however, he was stunned to find Cedric sitting there, waiting for him like Harry had in the entrance hall the night before. The older boy looked up as Harry approached, smiling. As he came closer, Cedric's smile slowly transformed into a deep frown. Instinctively, Harry grabbed at his sleeve, tugging it down further over his wounded hand.

"Hey," Harry said casually. "What're you doing here?"

"I heard you had detention," Cedric replied, scowling. "I was waiting for you to get out."

"That's really sweet of you, Cedric, but I'm very tired, so I'm going to go up to my room – "

"What's wrong with to your hand?" Cedric demanded.

Harry moved the appendage in question behind his back, saying, "I don't know what you're talking about. I really need to get going…"

"Don't lie to me, Harry," Cedric fumed. "I can feel it."

"It's nothing," Harry said evasively.

"Then let me see!"

Cedric grabbed Harry's arm. Harry almost fought him, but knew that would only cause more damage in the end. Plus his hand hurt too damn much to fight him. Harry let Cedric pull back his sleeve. The look of revulsion on Cedric's face made the truth Harry had been trying to hide seem all the more real, and horrible.

"What did she do to you?" Cedric asked, horrified.

"She made me do lines," Harry mumbled. "She had this quill. It – when I wrote, it would cut – it showed up on my skin…"

"And you didn't even argue?" Cedric asked. "You, the one who challenged her in front of your entire Defense Against the Dark Arts class, just sat there and – "

"What would that have accomplished?" Harry inquired. "What would arguing have helped? She would've just started targeting me worse if I made a fuss."

"But if you told someone, told McGonagall or Dumbledore or –"

"You mean the McGonagall who gave me a direct order not to cross Umbridge anymore?" Harry shot back. "And the Dumbledore who won't even look at me right now, let alone speak to me? And what about you? One minute you're all telling me to keep my head down, not to make trouble, and now all of a sudden I should be tattling on her?"

"This is different, Harry," insisted Cedric. "This isn't like mouthing off on your first day with her. This is abuse!"

"The Ministry put her here, Cedric. And I don't think she was chosen at random. They put **her** here, for a reason. Probably because they knew she'd resort to these sorts of methods. So what if I do go to McGonagall, or even managed to somehow get to Dumbledore, and she goes over their heads to Fudge? I'm not going to give her the satisfaction of winning that battle, not if I can help it."

"Okay," Cedric said after a prolonged silence. "I can understand that. I don't necessarily agree with it, but I can understand it. What I don't understand is you lying to me about it. Umbridge gave you this detention yesterday, and you never once mentioned it to me."

"How **did** you find out?" Harry wondered.

"Well, don't get mad at him, but Ron let it slip."

"When were you hanging out with Ron?"

"I'm not letting you change the subject, Harry," Cedric said evenly.

"Right," said Harry. "Sorry. I wasn't – I didn't mean to lie about it. Things were going so well for you, I didn't want to ruin that by telling you that they weren't for me."

"What do you mean? Did something else happen?"

Deciding there was no point in hiding things any longer, Harry revealed the argument he'd had with Seamus. Cedric was disheartened, though not at all surprised.

"I'm sorry he treated you that way," he said once Harry finished. "But I'm really disappointed that you kept it from me."

"I didn't want –"

"I know. Your intentions were good. But I thought we were going to be honest with each other. Isn't that what you said this summer, the morning I showed up at –" Cedric stopped short of saying too much out in public, and instead finished with, " – at the place we stayed this summer?"

"I did say that," replied Harry. "I simply hadn't anticipated it being turned around on me." This evoked a slight smile from the older boy. Harry sighed. "You're right. You're absolutely right. I should've told you. I'm sorry." Harry felt his throat constrict, and his eyes begin to sting. He fought hard against both reactions. "It's just, it's only been two days. And school sucks, and I've barely gotten to see you, and it feels like every single fucking person is against me."

"C'mere," said Cedric.

He tugged Harry to him, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy. Harry let his tears fall soundlessly. His boyfriend's embrace was an amazing restorative, and already the need to cry was leaving him.

"I've never hated it here before," Harry told him. "Hogwarts is supposed to be my escape from the place I spend summer. It always has been."

"I miss the summer, too," Cedric concurred. "Well, parts of it, anyway. All of them involving you. Spending time with you every day. Holding you every night. I haven't slept soundly since we got here."

"I thought it was only me," Harry smiled. He gave Cedric a squeeze and drew back, wiping his eyes. "So, seriously, when were you hanging out with Ron?"

"Ohh, that," said Cedric. "Don't tell him I told you, but he's trying out to be Gryffindor's Keeper this year. He asked me to help him train. Tonight was our first night, that's when he told me. I came up here to wait for you as soon as we finished."

"Isn't that a conflict of interest?" Harry wondered.

"Err, yes, perhaps a bit," Cedric admitted. "I'm choosing to overlook that fact because he was sort of desperate when he came to me."

"I'm surprised he didn't say anything to me," Harry mused, failing to keep the resentment completely out of his tone. "I could've helped him, or at least been supportive. I'm supposed to be his best friend, after all."

"Hey, now," Cedric said, taking Harry's unblemished right hand. "You **are** his best friend. Maybe he was going to ask, but then the whole detention thing happened and he didn't want you to feel bad about not being able to help because of it. Or he was just too proud to ask you."

"But then why would he ask you and not me?"

"Because sometimes it's easier to ask for help from someone you barely know than someone you've known for four years," Cedric responded sagaciously.

"How is he, anyway?" Harry asked, a little nervous to hear the answer.

"Not bad," said Cedric. "Actually, he's pretty good. His biggest obstacle is himself. If he can just relax, I think you guys would be lucky to have him." He nibbled on his lip for a moment. "You're sure I can't talk you into going to McGonagall about Umbridge? I can even go with you if you want."

Harry hesitated, because there was still one more thing he wasn't saying. He couldn't prove it, but something about the way Umbridge spoke about Cedric made Harry highly suspect that she had it in for the both of them. If they went to another professor about Umbridge's cruel methods, it would almost certainly get back to her. As far as Harry was concerned, she could do whatever she wanted to him, but he was not about to give her any excuse to punish Cedric, too.

"I'm sure," said Harry.

"All right," Cedric sighed. "Let's get you upstairs."

And with that, the pair headed off toward Gryffindor Tower.

**End Notes:** Happy Holidays! (And Happy 24th Birthday to me this Thursday!) And Happy 4th Anniversary of this series! Woot! I never imagined this series would still be going four years later. Thank you all so much for still reading!

I'm sorry to say this, but updates are going to become a bit more sporadic again. I'm going into my last undergraduate semester of college, and my senior seminar / capstone course is going to have to get most of my attention. I have to write an original work "of significant length". 'A Lack of Color' is 125k+ words, so I imagine I'm capable.

I'll work on this story over winter break, and hopefully finish at least chapter or two before the semester starts.

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to each and every one of you! Lots of love! -kevo


	6. I'd Start a Revolution

**Title:** Sound of the Revolution, Chapter 06  
**Author:** kevo  
**Pairing:** Harry + Cedric.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** I do not claim ownership to these characters or the series they're from.  
**Summary:** In his fifth year, Harry faces ostracism with boyfriend Cedric for coming out and for declaring Voldemort has returned. (Order of the Phoenix canon re-write.)  
**Author's Note:** Well. I've been exceptionally busy for the past month, because I decided to do a **second** Disney College Program. (I know, what's wrong with me?) But after attending _a soft open for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter today (!)_, I decided it's about time I post Chapter Six for ya'll!

The Love So Green Collection

Playlist #2:

sound of the revolution

**CHAPTER SIX**

"I'd Start a Revolution"

"Hermione thinks I should teach Defense Against the Dark Arts."

The statement slipped out of Harry unintentionally. He was running a hand over Cedric's bare chest, combing his fingers through the modest patch of hair there, as they lay on their old familiar couch in the Room of Requirement, basking in the intense afterglow of their shared orgasms. It had been several weeks since their confrontation following Harry's first round of detention with Professor Umbridge. Since that night, things had gotten much better between the two boys. Although they couldn't see each other as much as Harry would have liked, they always made good use of the time they did have.

"Does she now?" replied Cedric idly. "That's not a bad idea. You'd be great at it. But don't you want to be an Auror?"

"I do," said Harry. "She didn't mean as a career, she was talking about doing it now. Like as a club or something. I could instruct other students. You know, because of how lousy Umbridge is."

"Hm," Cedric said after a prolonged silence.

"What?"

"It's a radical concept," Cedric answered vaguely. "When did she come up with this?"

"After my last detention with Umbridge," Harry replied.

Following his first outburst in the new teacher's class, Harry had worked very hard to keep his frustration with her lessons and her lies in check. He took to maintaining a stony silence whenever in her presence, no matter what she said. He came close to talking back a few times, like when Umbridge took five points from Gryffindor for Hermione voicing her opinion about their textbook, only then he found that he didn't have to; Ron beat him to it. The usually docile redhead came at once to Hermione's defense, an act that earned him his own week's worth of detention. Judging from the way Hermione tended to Ron's wounded hand every night after he returned from the professor's office, it may have actually been a blessing in disguise.

It was the next day, during Umbridge's inspection of their Care of Magical Creatures class, when Harry got his next and so far last detention with her. She was inquiring about injuries sustained in previous years, and Malfoy was quick to chime in about the incident involving him and Buckbeak the hippogriff. Harry commented to Ron and Hermione about how Malfoy was only attacked because he was too stupid to follow instructions, not realizing he was in earshot of the toad-like woman. It hadn't occurred to him that the remark was a detention-worthy offense, or that she could even give detentions in a class that wasn't her own.

"Hermione was in a rage that night about how awful she is," Harry went on. "She said it's one thing to be a horrible person, but to be a bad teacher on top of that is intolerable."

"Yeah, that does sound like something Hermione would say," Cedric chuckled.

"I know, right?" agreed Harry. "So she kept going on and on about how we have to be prepared for what's coming and we need someone who can really, properly teach us. And then she says it's me that should do it. Next thing I know, she's got Ron in on it as well, and the two of them are, like, coming at me from both sides. And they're listing off all the things that've happened to me over the years, like they're accomplishments or something."

"Well – " Cedric paused, nibbling his lip pensively. "Now, don't get mad, but, aren't they? All the stories you've told me, the stuff you've been through; the troll in the girl's room, the Sorcerer's Stone, giant spiders, the Riddle diary, a fleet of dementors. They're all amazing."

"I was lucky," Harry said flatly. "Or I had help. Every time. Like in the Chamber of Secrets. If Fawkes hadn't showing up with the Sorting Hat and Gryffindor's sword, I would've died down there."

"But you were still a twelve-year-old boy fighting a basilisk, Harry!" Cedric countered. "Even after the phoenix blinded it, it's a giant snake! And you killed it! And what about those dementors? You told me, and so did Hermione, there were dozens of them. Dozens!"

"That was – you know –" Harry stammered for an explanation, growing more agitated by the second. "It was the Time Turner! If I hadn't known that I could do it, I would never have –"

"Come on, Harry, that's ridiculous," Cedric cut in. "If you didn't have the power to do it in the first place, you couldn't possibly have done it, time paradox or not. The fact is, you **have** faced You-Know-Who, and a number of other things, many times, and survived! What are you doing?"

Harry had leapt off the couch and was scrambling to yank his clothes back on furiously.

"I can't believe I'm having the same argument twice," he muttered, fastening his trousers. "Especially with you. I thought that you, of all people, would understand!"

"Why me?"

"Because you almost died, Cedric!" Harry shouted, stopping to look his boyfriend square in the eye. "Ron and Hermione, they've never been there for the worst of it. They've never had to face Voldemort or a fleet of dementors or an army of Death Eaters. But you were there that night, and you were nearly killed because of it. It's only by some miracle that you weren't. If I hadn't guessed what was going to happen, if I hadn't been fast enough, you would be – you wouldn't be here right now."

He held Cedric's gaze for a beat, letting his words sink in, then broke it. Harry returned to pulling his socks back on, a difficult task to accomplish while standing.

"So yeah," he mumbled, "I thought maybe you'd understand."

"Harry, please stop."

Cedric sat up, covering his privates modestly with their blanket, and reached for Harry as the younger boy was putting his arms through the sleeves of his button-down shirt. Harry let Cedric draw him back down onto the couch without resistance, having lost some of his steam after venting.

"I'm sorry," Cedric said. "I didn't mean to upset you. I know how difficult that stuff was for you, I wasn't trying to be insensitive."

"And I know you weren't," replied Harry. "I know Hermione and Ron weren't either. I snapped at them, too, when they said pretty much the same things. They dropped the subject after that, but not until Hermione made me promise I'd talk to you about the idea."

He took a minute to gather his thoughts before speaking again.

"All the things you and Hermione and Ron have brought up, these things I've done… It's not like it's something you can teach. When you're facing real danger, it doesn't matter how many spells you've memorized. You can barely think, you're so busy just trying to stay alive. All you can do is react, and hope your instincts are good enough. You can't teach that. You can't teach someone what it's like to face death."

"Maybe not," Cedric yielded. "Maybe that isn't something you can teach, but at least you can give students the tools they need to be more prepared. The way things are going, kids won't be able to defend themselves against the most minor jinxes, let alone a full-on attack."

"I know," said Harry.

"Forget all the crazy stuff that's happened to you for a moment, all right?" Cedric proposed. "Pretend it's not even a factor. You're still the best in your year at Defense Against the Dark Arts. It's a fact. You might even be the best in the entire school for that matter. Isn't that proof enough that you can do this?"

"I suppose…"

"And you won't be doing it alone," Cedric reminded him. "You'll have Ron and Hermione backing you up."

"And you," Harry said. "You should be a part of it. You were Hogwarts champion, too. The **real** one, I don't care what you say. And you're a seventh year, so you know loads more than I do."

"I could be your assistant," Cedric grinned.

"My lovely assistant," Harry rearticulated. He smirked. "Does that mean you'd have to do whatever I tell you to?"

"You say that like I don't already," Cedric laughed. "So, you'll give it a go, then?"

"Yeah, okay," Harry conceded. "I'll try, anyway. We don't even know if anyone will be interested yet."

O O O O O O O

"Of course they'll be interested," Hermione insisted the next day when she, Harry, Ron and Cedric all met in the library. "I can't imagine anyone is satisfied with Defense right now. They're probably as desperate to learn the real thing as we are."

"Sure, Hermione," said Ron, rolling his eyes. "Everyone is desperate for more learning."

Where usually the girl would have shot him an evil look for his snide comment, this time her glare was ruined by tiniest hint of a smile coming through. Ron gave her a wide grin in response. Harry wondered if something else had happened between the two of them without his knowledge.

It was almost funny, the way they were keeping their budding heterosexual romance a secret while they'd been privy to most details of Harry's relationship with a boy from day one. Only Harry didn't find this funny as much as irksome, and kind of insulting. He'd trusted them both with what was, for a long time, his most closely-guarded secret. He didn't want to pressure either of them into revealing anything before they were ready, but their silence was becoming insufferable.

"She is right about one thing, though," Ron went on. "People will definitely be interested. You're all anyone can talk about most days. I bet people will be queuing up out the door."

"Gee, hadn't thought about that," Harry admitted, anxious and annoyed at the same time. "Thanks, Ron."

"We'll make sure the number doesn't get to big," Hermione assured him. "And that only people who are legitimately concerned about Defense will be there."

"A few of my dorm mates have said they'd come," Cedric threw in. "They're big guys. They can take care of anyone who shows up to make trouble." He rubbed Harry's shoulders comfortingly. "Relax. It's going to be fine."

"Sure," said Harry, although his apprehension was hardly abated. "So when are we doing this, anyway?"

"I was thinking we could use the first Hogsmeade weekend," Hermione answered. "We'll tell everyone to meet us there so we can discuss it."

"Why not just do it here in the school?" Ron asked. "Then we wouldn't have to wait."

"I think I know why," Cedric offered. "Umbridge won't be too happy about group that countermands her method of teaching and, by extension, anyone who participates in it. If we do this in the village, she's less likely to find out about it, and therefore she's less likely to squash it before we can even get started. Am I right?"

"You are," Hermione confirmed.

"Hermione Granger: rule-breaker," Ron remarked. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"I've broken rules before," she argued.

"Yeah," Ron agreed, "but not like this."

"It's not rule breaking, anyway," Hermione continued unperturbed. "It's simply finding a way to circumvent the rules to ensure no complications arise. We're not technically doing anything wrong, but it's worth taking precautions to be certain that Umbridge doesn't make things difficult for us."

"Fine, fine, rule-circumventer, then," said Ron. "Still unlike you, or even you, Cedric."

"I don't get the same thrill out of it that your brothers do," Cedric said. "But it needs to be done. Students need to be taught practical defensive magic, not just theoretical."

With a shake of his head, Ron pronounced, "You really are the boy version of Hermione sometimes."

O O O O O O O

The first Hogsmeade weekend came upon Harry with alarming rapidity. Normally the trips served as a nice distraction from the tedium of classes and homework. Harry could've used something like that, especially with the way September had gone. Thanks to the Defense recruitment meeting, however, the village trip was looking to be anything but relaxing.

Winter weather was already starting to chase the warmth of summer away by the first weekend of October, and students needed to bundle up more than usual for the long march down to the neighboring village. Harry, Ron and Hermione met Cedric in the entrance hall that Saturday morning to walk to Hogsmeade together.

"You're lucky," Harry informed his boyfriend, eyeing the strip of black and yellow wool wrapped around Cedric's neck. "You can cover your scar with a scarf or a turtleneck sweater." He tapped the zigzagging scar on his own forehead. "Mine's always right there."

"You could wear a hat," Cedric suggested. "Or grow your bangs out."

"Ohhh, don't grow your hair out," Hermione cautioned. "I think it'd look awful."

"Hat it is, then," Harry declared as they started down the stone front steps. "I don't think it would do me much good at this point. Everyone at Hogwarts knows who I am anyway, even without seeing my scar."

"In a few years, maybe," said Cedric. "After you graduate. With a hat covering your scar, and without your glasses, you may not be as easily recognized."

"That would be nice," Harry admitted.

"Uhh, you two are holding hands," Ron observed.

"…Yeah," said Harry, glancing down at his and Cedric's intertwined hands. "Why? Are you suddenly going to go all Seamus on me?"

"Oh please," said Ron. "The number of times I've walked in on you two snogging, I'd've said something like that way before now. I only meant that we're going to be in public and all."

"And practically everyone in the wizarding world knows we're a couple already," Harry countered.

"Maybe he's right," Cedric suggested timidly.

"Oh c'mon!" Harry protested. "I spent all summer walking around Little Whinging with Cedric, not allowed to behave in any way boyfriendly. I'm not suggesting we snog in front of the whole village, but I think we're entitled to a little hand-holding, don't you?"

Though he still seemed uncertain, Cedric nodded and did not release Harry's hand.

"I hope Padfoot doesn't show up," Harry said as they walked, recalling the night his godfather's head showed up in the Gryffindor common room's fire.

"You suppose he will?" asked Ron.

"Dunno," replied Harry. "I wouldn't put it past him, especially with how restless he's been cooped up in that house. He probably won't. I think I really upset him that night when we spoke."

"Don't you start feeling guilty, Harry," Hermione chided. "You did the right thing telling him he shouldn't come."

"No, I know," Harry said. "I know that. Still. The thing he said about my dad…"

"Was completely out of line," Hermione interrupted. "'The risk would've been what made it fun for James.' How childish. He should be encouraging you **not** to take unnecessary risks. Especially now that Vuh-Voldemort's back."

"I just thought of something," Cedric chimed in. "If we're caught with him, would that make us accomplices? There's probably a penalty for that."

"I… I guess it would," Hermione answered, seeming to realize this for the first time herself. "I'd have to consult a few things before saying for certain, but it does sound accurate."

"So he's not only risking his freedom by coming out here, but ours too," Cedric continued. "Even yours, Harry."

"I don't think he sees it that way," Harry said. "It probably doesn't even occur to him that he might be caught."

"That's sort of the problem, isn't it?" said Hermione.

"You know, I can't blame him wanting to get out of that house, with only a screaming portrait of his mum and a crotchety house-elf for company," Ron opined."But I don't think you have anything to worry about. Dumbledore would be furious if he left headquarters, and he listens to Dumbledore. Anyway, there's no way he'll stay angry for long."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well," said Ron, "you're all he's got."

That uncharacteristically insightful statement left the group silent the rest of the way to Hogsmeade. Harry was aware of how much he needed his godfather. The thing he hadn't stopped to consider was that his godfather might need him, too. Harry's time at Hogwarts hadn't entirely washed away the decade of neglect that preceded it, and the idea of someone relying on him, thinking of him as family, was still a foreign one.

The village was already bustling with students by the time the foursome arrived. There were a few odd looks at the two teenage boys holding hands. Harry ignored them and held on tighter.

"Shall we go straight to the Hog's Head then?" Cedric asked, his voice strained.

The way his eyes kept darting around told Harry he was aware of the stares they were getting, too. He gave the boy's hand a comforting squeeze.

"It won't be long before people start showing up," Hermione replied. "We may as well."

The Hog's Head, Hermione and Cedric had agreed, was far enough off the usual beaten path of Hogsmeade that it would ensure a decent amount of privacy for their business. Once inside, Harry could see why they'd never come there before. It was decrepit and dirty and had the faintest aroma of something that Harry could only equate to a barnyard. Still, it was their best option, a thought that did little to hearten any of them.

"Do you think Cho will come?" Harry wondered as they sat at a rickety wooden table. "You told her about it, right?"

"Don't know," Cedric replied. "I mean, yes, I told her, but I can't say whether she'll be here. I haven't seen her much since we got back. She's always busy with her girlfriends."

To Harry's left, Hermione made a small "hmm" noise that caught his attention. Glancing at her, he saw her lips were pursed, as though she had something to say on the matter but was deciding to keep it to herself. A moment later the bar's door opened and other students began filing in, so Harry didn't have a chance to question Hermione about what her behavior meant. He made a mental note to ask later.

Nearly everyone who came was familiar to Harry. The majority were Gyrffindors, including his entire year (except Seamus), the girls from the Quidditch team, the Weasleys and Lee Jordan, of course, and both Creevey brothers. (Harry was almost certain Dennis wasn't old enough be in Hogsmeade and wondered to what lengths the Creeveys were willing to go in order to be near him.) There were also some Hufflepuffs, including Cedric's mates, and a few Ravenclaws. Harry smirked at Fred chatting up Michael Corner. Cho came, too, with some girl Harry hadn't seen her with before. She gave him an unusually tight smile in greeting.

As soon as everyone was settled, Hermione began speechifying. She started out timidly but rapidly grew in conviction, with Harry, Cedric, and, less frequently, Ron all piping in when it was required of them. For the most part people just listened attentively. Except Zacharius Smith, however, who threw out the occasional snide, skeptical remark. It took Harry a while but he eventually recognized him as the boy who tried to trip him last year when his name came out of the Goblet of Fire.

In the end, it was agreed upon by all: Harry would teach them Defense Against the Dark Arts. No one could come up with a good suggestion for a place to meet, but Hermione and Cedric didn't seem too worried. They all left in the same groups they'd arrived in, except Fred and Michael who slipped off on their own. Cho looked as if she wished to stay behind for a moment, but her friend rushed out and Cho followed after.

"I think that went well," Hermione declared as they too left the Hog's Head.

"That Zach bloke is a real asshole," Ron groused.

"Yeah, he's always been like that," said Cedric. "Shame, too, 'cuz he's actually rather attractive."

"If only he could keep that mouth shut," Harry bemoaned.

"I could think of a few ways to keep his mouth otherwise occupied," Cedric smirked.

"Very funny," Harry said, nudging his boyfriend playfully. "If you're looking to become suddenly available for him, you're heading in the right direction."

"Relax, you know I'd want you to join in the fun," Cedric assured him.

"Oh, well in that case…" said Harry, grinning as he pondered the lascivious scenarios the suggestion conjured.

"Excuse me, could you refrain from plotting your threeways while Hermione and me are out in public with you?" Ron requested. "Or, y'know, while we're **anywhere** with you?"

"Oh, let them be," Hermione said. "I need to stop Scrivenshaft's anyway, so why don't you join me and leave them to their, er, plotting."

"Sure," Ron replied, going suddenly pink in the ears. "See you guys later."

"If those two don't figure this thing out between them soon, I'm going to…" Harry paused. "Okay, there isn't really much I can do. Unless, is killing them both an option?"

"I wouldn't recommend it," said Cedric. "Once the papers find out they'll just blow it all out of proportion. And then you'll end up… being… worse off…"

Cedric's comment remained incomplete. He was staring in shock at something across the road. Harry followed his gaze to find Cedric's mother, Ruth Diggory, approaching them at a steady pace.

"I was hoping I'd find you," she said to her son upon reaching him. "I wrote the school to find out what weekends the Hogsmeade visits were."

"What are you doing here?" Cedric demanded sharply.

"I said, I wanted to find you," Mrs. Diggory replied. "I thought we could talk. Can we go somewhere? The Three Broomsticks maybe?"

"Fine," Cedric responded. "But Harry is coming, too."

"All right," she said after a moment's pause. "Come on then."

Mrs. Diggory led the way up High Street. As they walked, Harry could feel waves of fear and anxiety rolling off of Cedric, so strong it nearly made Harry nauseous. It didn't help that Cedric's feelings of apprehension were compounded by Harry's own.

"Cedric, I don't have to come with you," he whispered. "You should talk to your mum."

"And I'm going to, but I want you there with me," Cedric insisted. More quietly, and more desperately, he added, "Please, Harry. I can't do this alone."

"Okay," said Harry. "I'll stay."

He patted the older boy's arm, finding it awkward displaying affection in front of Mrs. Diggory, even if she wasn't watching. They entered the Three Broomsticks, which was less crowded so late in the afternoon. Cedric's mother sent the boys to find seats while she got them all drinks. She located their table and passed Cedric and Harry a butterbeer each. Harry took out some money to offer her, but Mrs. Diggory waved it away.

"Oh, don't be silly," she said. "Put that away."

"Thank you," Harry said politely, slightly red with discomfiture.

"So," said Mrs. Diggory. "How's school?"

"'How's school?'" Cedric scoffed. "After all this time, that's really all you have to say? 'How's school?'"

"Cedric, please. Don't be like that."

"Fine," said Cedric petulantly. "You want to know how school is? Awful. The Ministry put that foul Umbridge woman at Hogwarts and she's working her tail off – yes, I suspect she actually has a tail – to make life miserable for me and Harry and the rest of the students. The same students, by the way, who almost all think we're crazy after everything the _Prophet_ has been saying about us."

"Okay, you've had a lot to deal with," Mrs. Diggory said. "I get it."

"No, you really don't," Cedric shot back. "Why did you come here?"

"I already told you, I wanted to talk –"

"But why?" demanded Cedric. "Why now? I haven't heard from you since… since that day I picked up the rest of my things. And even then we didn't speak."

"I tried to speak to you, and you know that," Mrs. Diggory said.

"No, you told me to apologize to Dad for storming out," Cedric replied, "disregarding the fact that he's the one who started the fight to begin with. And then he ignored me that day when I saw him before my hearing –"

"He never told me about that –"

"— so I felt practically like I'd been disowned –"

"No one ever disowned you!" Mrs. Diggory broke in. "How could you even say that? We're having problems right now, yes, but we still love you very much. No one made you leave our home that night, you know. It was your choice."

"Because you made staying so appealing," Cedric sniped.

"We're adjusting, Cedric," said Mrs. Diggory. "That's why I'm here, it's why I'm trying."

"And what about Dad?" Cedric asked. "Why isn't he here, trying?"

"Your father… is having a bit more trouble adjusting than I am," Mrs. Diggory replied. "This isn't the kind of life we imagined for you, none of it. We want you happy –"

"I am happy –"

"And we want you safe," she finished. "Can you blame us for that?" She sighed. "I wonder if things might've been easier if you weren't –"

"What?" said Cedric. "Weren't gay?"

"Merlin no, you being gay is the easiest part of all this," said Mrs. Diggory, with tone bordering on levity. "Your father still would've needed time, but he'd've come to terms." Her eyes briefly subtly to Harry, then back to her son. "No, I-I meant… If you two weren't involved."

Suddenly, Harry wished he hadn't given in to Cedric's plea to join them.

Off Cedric's grim expression, Mrs. Diggory continued, "Now, before you start, look at everything that's happened. You were nearly killed last June –"

"That wasn't Harry's fault!" Cedric cut in.

"Fine then, what about that night in August?" Cedric's mother tried again. "That never would've happened if it weren't for – if you two weren't together. And that scar, Cedric. You have a scar on your neck, just like his. Merlin, I'm terrified for you. Are you a target now? For You-Know-Who?"

"He's not," Harry chimed in. Mrs. Diggory's gaze snapped back to him, and Harry shrank under her stare. "Sorry, I don't mean to… As far as we can tell, Cedric isn't in any danger. No more than anyone else, that is."

"Anyone else in your life, you mean," Mrs. Diggory added. Harry hadn't considered how true the statement was until she pointed it out to him. "How can you be sure? He keeps coming after you. How do you know for sure that he won't come after Cedric now?"

"Voldemort and I have some sort of link," Harry said, choosing his words carefully. He didn't want to tell Cedric's mother any more than he had to, or anything that might worry her unduly. "That's why he's after me. It does have something to do with my scar."

"But mine isn't like that," Cedric jumped in quickly. "Mine's not connected to him, only Harry's is."

"Right, Cedric's only connects him and me to each other," said Harry.

"How d'you mean?" Mrs. Diggory inquired.

"Well, it –" Harry turned to Cedric, whose gaze was fixed on his own hands folded in his lap. "You didn't tell her?"

"One of you'd better tell me," said Mrs. Diggory.

"Our scars, they are connected somehow," Harry explained. "It's not the same way mine already was with Voldemort, not exactly. Cedric and I can feel each others' emotions. Sometimes it's just barely, and others it borders on mind-reading. But even through that, he has no link with Voldemort. We're certain about that."

"Trying to follow all of this is doing my head in," Mrs. Diggory said, rubbing her forehead.

"You should see what it's like in mine," Harry muttered.

"You're a fifteen-year-old boy, and you're dating my son. I'd rather not see what's in there, thanks," replied Mrs. Diggory. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so blunt with you, Harry. I know how much you've been through and it breaks my heart, because you genuinely seem like a nice boy. And I know you make my son happy. If it wasn't for all this excess, the calamity and the danger, I'd like to think I could be happy for you both. But as a mother, I can't help being concerned."

"I understand, Mrs. Diggory," said Harry, calm if a little dejected. "I worry myself, sometimes, that I might be wrong for Cedric. I don't blame you for hating me."

"I don't hate you, Harry," Mrs. Diggory said kindly. "I just hate what could happen to my son for being with you."

A deep silence fell over the table. Cedric appeared to be shell-shocked, too much to even speak.

"I think we'd better go," Cedric said at last, getting up from the table. Harry followed his lead. "We need to be getting back to school."

"Yes, of course," Mrs. Diggory replied, rising as well. "I understand. Before you go…"

She dug through her purse, producing a small pouch that she then handed to her son. Cedric accepted it hesitantly.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Your birthday is coming up," Mrs. Diggory reminded him, and Harry's stomach dropped because he'd nearly forgotten all about it. "It would've gone toward your present but, given the circumstances… Perhaps you're old enough to be buying something for yourself, anyway."

"Thanks," said Cedric, staring down at the pouch of coins in his hand. "Tell Dad I said… I don't know, tell him I said hi, I guess." He turned to go, but looked back to add, "On second thought, don't tell him I said anything."

With a final, cordial nod toward Mrs. Diggory, Harry followed Cedric out of the Three Broomsticks. Once they were a good distance down High Street, he took Cedric's hand. Cedric squeezed back firmly.

"How're you doing?" Harry asked.

"I'm fine," Cedric replied. "I wasn't prepared for that to happen today, but I'll be fine. Distract me?"

"Well my standard methods are sort of useless at the moment, at least until I get you back to the Room of Requirement," Harry teased. "Umm, we could start planning our first Defense meeting. Then again, there's little point since we don't even have a place to hold it yet."

"I've just had thought about that, actually," Cedric admitted.

"And?"

"And I don't think you're going to like it," Cedric replied, throwing an arm across Harry's shoulders.

**End Notes:** Hope the ending isn't too abrupt for anyone. Cedric's idea should obvious to anyone who's actually read/seen HP5. And if you haven't, what are you doing reading this fic, anyway? :P  
The bit about a Harry/Cedric/Zacharius threesome was mostly in jest, but I do wonder what people would think if I actually did include a threesome in this story. It wouldn't become a smut!fic; real, committed couples have them all the time. Just a thought I had…  
Hermione telling Harry his hair would look awful grown out is me having a go at Daniel Radcliffe's hair in HP4. I hated that hair. His best hair is HP3 and HP5.  
Also, I just want it stated for the record that, in my head, Cedric's mum is played by Catherine Tate. She's too brilliant. You'd think I'd have the red-headed Doctor Who vet be Mrs. Weasley, but no. For me, Mrs. Weasley is Camille Coduri. Hands down. Tell me Jackie Tyler wouldn't shout "Not my daughter, you bitch!" She practically has!  
As I said above, I'll be living and working in Florida for the summer, until mid-August. Which means I don't know how much writing time I'm going to have. (I work, on average, 50 to 55 hour weeks.) But I live 10 minutes from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, so it's hard to feel guilty. (The Forbidden Journey is too intense for words, and butterbeer actually made me and my husband sick. Except the slushie version. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.)  
Okay, these notes are officially too long! I'll be back, I swear. This story means too much to me not to finish. -kevo


	7. What You Don't Know

**Title:** Sound of the Revolution, Chapter 07  
**Author:** kevo  
**Pairing:** Harry + Cedric.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** I do not claim ownership to these characters or the series they're from.  
**Summary:** In his fifth year, Harry faces ostracism with boyfriend Cedric for coming out and for declaring Voldemort has returned. (Order of the Phoenix canon re-write.)  
**Author's Note:** I literally just finished this chapter right now. Like now as in now. Today is Cedric's birthday in my own H/C universe, so here's the "Cedric's birthday" chapter! Yay!

The Love So Green Collection

Playlist #2:

sound of the revolution

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

"What You Don't Know"

"Absolutely not!"

This was Harry's response to the idea of using the Room of Requirement for Defense meetings. It had been his response since Cedric suggested it Saturday on their way back from Hogsmeade. He thought that would be it, until Cedric relayed his thought to Hermione. While Cedric may have dropped it when Harry said no, Hermione was not nearly as reluctant to be on Harry's bad side.

It was now Tuesday evening, and she had been putting the pressure on him for two whole days. She, Harry, Cedric, and Ron had come down to the lake after dinner so they could discuss things without being overheard. Considering how loud Harry was being, however, they may as well have stayed in the castle.

"There has to be another place," Harry said, his voice rising with desperation. "I still think we could make the Shrieking Shack work for us."

"Okay," replied Hermione. "Then why don't you come up with a way to get twenty-eight students there and back without Umbridge noticing."

That left Harry stumped. So, rather than answer with something rude, he kicked a rock into the lake, which was promptly thrown back out by the giant squid.

"The Room of Requirement is the only place that will be able to accommodate what we're trying to do," Hermione insisted. "I'm sorry, Harry, but we don't have a choice. This is too important."

"Easy for you to say," Harry threw at her. "I don't see you making any sacrifices for the group. I didn't even want to do this, it was **your** idea!"

"Hey, back off, mate!" Ron barked.

"Actually, Harry, all three of us are taking a big risk by doing this" Cedric interjected. "We'll be some serious trouble if we're caught. Now that Umbridge has banned unauthorized groups, we could even lose our prefect status."

"We could?" Ron said, alarmed.

"It's a possibility, yes," Hermione replied. "In fact, I was fully aware that it might come to this before I even suggested the idea."

"Well I wasn't!" Ron cried.

"Yes, but you don't actually care," countered Hermione.

"Ahh, that's right," Ron acquiesced.

Try as he might, Harry realized there was no fighting it. He'd agreed to start the Defense group because it was important. So important that he had to be willing to make sacrifices for it, for the greater good. Even if one of them was revealing his private retreat from an increasingly grim reality.

"Fine," Harry relented. "We'll use the Room of Requirement. I'm being selfish, and you're right. It's... it's the only way."

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione said earnestly. "We should let everyone else know we've found a place, and meet as soon as possible, while they're all still enthused about the idea. Tomorrow night, maybe?"

"That's rather soon," said Harry, taken aback. "I don't have anything prepared."

"Well, it's the first one," Cedric reminded him. "We only need to go over the basics at first, right? So we should probably start small. Maybe the Disarming Charm?"

"Talk about basic," Ron snorted. "We've been doing that since we were twelve. Eleven? Merlin, I've lost track, it's been so long…"

"I agree with Cedric," Hermione said. "Most students know **how** to disarm, but they haven't had any practice at it."

"Not like we have, anyway," added Harry.

"We'll go spread the word about our new location," Hermione said. "Don't stay out too late."

"Yeah, or the Big Bad Toad will hop on out here and gobble you up like flies!" Ron crowed.

Grabbing him by the arm, Hermione led Ron back up to the castle as he laughed at his own lame joke. Harry took his boyfriend's arm too, and they continued to walk around the lake's perimeter.

"You all right?" Cedric asked him.

"I'm okay," Harry said. "I know it isn't really ours. It's a part of the school, it belongs to everyone. But I can't help wanting to keep the Room private, between the two of us."

"I feel the same way," replied Cedric. "We've spent so much time there, it's practically become an extension of our relationship. Even when we were… apart, I used to go in on my own. Hoping you'd come."

"I didn't know," said Harry, who was touched, and a little saddened, by this revelation. "I was too afraid to go near it."

"There's still plenty of places we can be together," Cedric said. "Like our old standby, the prefects' bathroom."

"We haven't been there in ages," Harry mused. "How many epic love stories can say they got their start in a bathroom, eh?"

"From what I've read, a lot of the gay ones, actually," Cedric replied. "No, wait, those are the erotic ones." He smiled. "You think we're an epic love story?"

"Oh yes," said Harry. "The epic-est. Most epic?"

"I like 'epic-est,'" said Cedric.

"Me too."

O O O O O O O

The next night, Harry, Cedric, Ron and Hermione convened in the seventh floor corridor in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Like the night they first discovered it, the foursome went about making the requisite three passes in front of the blank wall opposite the wall-hanging. The Room that appeared was similar to the one they'd used in preparation for the Triwizard Tournament's final task, only bigger. It was also missing the couch it frequently conjured for Harry and Cedric. Harry made sure of this, so that it, at least, would remain solely theirs.

By eight o'clock, everyone who'd come to the meeting in the Hog's Head on Saturday arrived. None had any idea that the Room of Requirement existed. Only the twins had encountered it once before, while it was in the guise of a broom cupboard.

"And here I thought we knew all the castle's secrets," George marveled. "You've got one up on us, mate."

"A place like this's got a lot of potential," said Fred, sounding like he was already imagining ways to apply that potential.

"Er, I suppose," Harry replied. He could already feel his sanctuary slowly slipping from his grasp.

"This room is to be used for Defense lessons only," Hermione stated authoritatively. "The Room of Requirement is an important resource, and should not be abused by anyone."

"Why d'you look at us when you say that?" George demanded.

"It's crucial that both the group and this room remain a secret," Hermione continued coolly. "Anyone who jeopardizes the concealment of either will answer to me."

She raised her wand to drive the point home. Everyone nodded their understanding, for no one wanted to be on the wrong end of Hermione Granger's spellcasting. The witch flashed Harry a tiny smile, which the boy graciously returned.

"Now," concluded Hermione, "let's begin. I think that we all concur that Harry and Cedric will be in charge."

"Hang on," said Ginny suddenly. "I thought Harry was going to be teaching us."

"I am," Harry replied. "But Cedric was Hogwarts champion, same as me. I think he's earned the right to be co-captain here."

The redhead made a not-so-soft sound of derision that Harry elected to brush past. He did not need to cause a scene in the middle of their first official meeting.

"Next order of business," Hermione said, also ignoring Ginny's attitude, "is a name for the group."

There were many ideas submitted, most of them intended to disparage Umbridge or the Ministry. The only good proposal came from Cho, who seemed unusually reluctant to draw attention to herself. It was Ginny's variation, Dumbledore's Army or the D.A. for short, which was unanimously agreed upon.

Now that they had a name, it was time to get to work. As the foursome had earlier established, they started with the most rudimentary of defense skills: the Disarming Charm. This evoked another sneering remark from the increasingly-less-pleasant Zacharius Smith, who challenged the relevance of the charm, considering what they were up against. He failed to come up with an adequate response when Harry announced that it was the spell that saved his life last June.

After discussing the basic spell technique, stance and the like, Harry had the group split into pairs for practice while he and Cedric observed and critiqued. It went well for about an hour. Then Cedric made the mistake of trying to help Ginny. Harry didn't know what had been said to set her off, but he certainly heard her response.

"Would you back off already!" she shrieked. "I know what I'm doing!"

Most of the room stopped mid-spell, heads whipping around to where the pair stood. Those who hadn't overheard Ginny's outburst, being too far or too intent on their spellwork, soon stopped as well, confused by the sudden silence. Cedric's face turned redder than Harry had ever seen it, his mouth working soundlessly.

"I didn't – " he finally managed to eek out feebly. "I wasn't trying to – "

"Forget it," said Ginny, clearly embarrassed by her own behavior.

"I think that's enough practice for tonight," Harry announced.

Several people groaned their dissatisfaction with this proclamation. Hermione, noticing that they were rapidly approaching the boarders of the Hogwarts student curfew, hurried to harmonize with his decision.

With a promise that she'd find a way to communicate the time and date of the next meeting to all of them, Hermione began ushering students out the door. Ginny was among the first, to Harry's vaxation. He mumbled that he'd be right back to no one in particular before darting out after her. Ginny hadn't gotten far, only a quarter of the way back to the Gryffindor common room. Harry trotted up behind.

"Ginny!" he called. "Can we talk for a second?"

"Sure, Harry," she said, stopping so he could catch up. "What's up?

"What was that in there?" Harry asked, biting back his anger.

"I don't know what you –"

"Yeah, you do," he interrupted. "You want to be mad at Cedric, or me, just because we're in love, fine. I don't care. I stopped caring a long time ago, and I'm done trying to convince you to be nicer to him. But you do not undermine either of us while we are instructing this group, got it? If you can't keep those feelings to yourself during our meetings, don't bother showing up."

"Harry…" she began.

But it was too late. He'd already turned back around and headed back toward the Room of Requirement. Hermione, Ron and Cedric were still there, along with a few stragglers. Ron's brow furrowed at his friend.

"Everything all right, mate?" asked Ron.

"I guess we'll see," Harry replied cryptically, and joined them in tidying up the room without another word about it.

O O O O O O O

In the days leading up to the seventeenth of October, Cedric made no comments about the impending date's significance. Had it not been for Mrs. Diggory's mention of it during their sit-down in Hogsmeade, Harry might have missed his boyfriend's eighteenth birthday entirely. The fact that this was Cedric's first birthday that they would celebrate together made it an important one. He imagined this must've been what Cedric felt in July. And yet Harry had the added stress of knowing this was Cedric's first birthday without the loving support of his parents. Being so inexperienced in relationships, Harry was unsure of how he should proceed. Was it better to ignore the date, as Cedric had been doing? Or perhaps over-compensate, make a big deal about it to distract Cedric from his troubles?

As always, Harry turned to the one person he continually did when he needed help in life: Hermione. He relayed the situation to her as they sat in their usual table in the Gryffindor common room.

"I think either extreme is too much," she said when he finished. "You can't ignore your boyfriend's birthday. All that does is guarantee you won't be together for his next. And you don't want to overwhelm him. This all must be so difficult for him. At least you have four years' experience being the center of attention."

"Oh yes," Harry drawled. "Because that kind of experience translates so well into the real world."

"It could," replied Hermione. "If you wanted to go into – Wait. No. Birthday thing first. Have you thought of asking him what he wants?"

"I'm afraid I might upset him," Harry admitted. "This may be the worst birthday he's even had, with all the stuff with his parents, and he and Cho are barely speaking lately..."

"I can't say I'm surprised," Hermione muttered under her breath.

"How's that, exactly?" Harry demanded. "You've been suspiciously twitchy about Cho for a while now. Out with it."

After a few seconds of contemplation, Hermione shut her textbooks and pushed her homework aside. This was a foreboding gesture, and Harry braced himself for what she had to say.

"For one thing," Hermione began, "I'm sure she's more than a little embarrassed about Cedric coming out."

"Embarrassed?" Harry replied, baffled. "What right does she have –"

"Oh please, Harry," Hermione said. "People thought they were dating! She was his escort to the Yule Ball!"

"So what? I took Parvati."

"And basically ignored her all night until she left you for a boy from Beauxbatons," she reminded him. "Cedric and Cho were often seen together long before the ball. There was the brief period after Cho slapped you that people wondered which champion she was really with, but when nothing came of that everyone went back to thinking she was Cedric's girlfriend. And then he came out of the closet."

"I still don't understand why she'd be embarrassed," said Harry.

"Of course you don't."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"No no, don't get me wrong," Hermione quickly continued. "You and Cedric, you have every right to be self-involved about this situation. It affects your lives more directly than anyone's. But think about Cho. The boy everyone thought she was dating turned out to be gay. A lot of people are questioning whether she **made him** that way."

"It doesn't work like that," Harry scoffed.

"Oh, really? D'you think?" Hermione shot back. "_**I**_ know that, Harry, but most people aren't as well-informed about this sort of thing."

"All right, but what if Cedric explained that they weren't really dating, that he was gay the whole time and she knew about it?" Harry wondered.

"That's not any better," said Hermione. "In fact, it may be worse. Then she was his willing beard for ages."

Though he was reluctant to admit it, Hermione's logic made sense. It certainly explained Cho's sudden turnabout in attitude.

"What's the other thing then?" Harry asked.

"Sorry?"

"At the start you said 'for one thing.' What else is there?"

"Oh." Like before, Hermione took moment before she spoke. She had Harry on the edge of his seat. "Well… I probably shouldn't be telling you this, so please don't tell Cedric I said anything, but… Harry, I think Cho's in love with him."

That was possibly the last thing Harry expected her to say.

"Hermione, Cedric's gay," Harry stated flatly. "Cho knows that, she's known it for years."

"Yes, I'm aware of the situation," said Hermione. "Be that as it may, I still feel rather certain about this."

Still not able to wrap his head around the idea, he started to say, "What makes you even think…" But he couldn't complete the sentence. It felt too surreal.

"The way she talks about him, mostly," Hermione answered.

"Because you and Cho are so close that you talk all the time," Harry mocked.

"Maybe not, but remember last Christmas?" Hermione responded. "While you all were playing in the snow and she and I sat on the sides watching. We talked for a good long while, about a lot of things, and most of all about you two. She kept saying how happy she was that Cedric found someone, and how she was trying so hard to be supportive. A little too hard, if you ask me.

"She told me how at first she thought Cedric was going through a phase with the whole gay thing, and that she cared so much about him that she stuck by him. Then she started to say she had hoped he'd grow out of it one day and that, when he did, she'd be there. She quickly threw in that she didn't think that anymore, but it didn't sound very convincing."

He didn't want to believe it, yet deep down Harry could feel that she was right.

"But Cho's never had a problem with me," Harry pointed out. "At least she doesn't act like it."

"Well, you're his boyfriend," Hermione reasoned. "She probably doesn't think he'd tolerate her being mean to you. And I don't think Cho hates you or anything. She might resent you a bit, like Ginny does with Cedric, but I'm sure she knows it isn't your fault. I think she realizes now that it's not a phase. So that, coupled with how awkward it must feel to be seen with Cedric now that he's out, has obviously resulted in Cho distancing herself from him."

As Hermione finished her last statement, the pair fell silent for a minute. It was a lot of information to digest, and certainly not the conversation he'd been planning to have.

"I didn't mean to get so far off topic," Hermione said, as if sensing what Harry had been thinking. "I wasn't even sure I wanted to tell you…"

"No, I'm glad you did," Harry assured her. "It explains a lot." He paused. "I'm not going to tell Cedric."

"That's entirely your decision," she replied. "Honestly, I don't know whether it's a good idea to tell him or not. It's why I kept it to myself for so long. But if you think it's best not to – "

"For now, at least," Harry broke in. "I can tell it bother him from time to time, but he still has plenty of friends who haven't abandoned him in all this. If I have to, I may."

"And on some level, he may even already know," Hermione posited. "You were aware of how Ginny felt about you."

"Ginny played it a little looser than Cho has," Harry pointed out. He focused his attention on the loose thread he was playing with on his armrest as he said, "Speaking of Ginny, I talked with her the other night about her behavior after the D.A. meeting. About her snapping at Cedric."

"I thought that was where you went," Hermione nodded. "How did it go?"

"Well, it wasn't so much a talk, actually, as much as it was me snapping at **her**," he confessed. "I didn't really give her a chance to respond, either. I basically said that she needs to either get over it or not show up for the next meeting."

"Sounds reasonable," she declared.

Harry exhaled angrily, trying to release some of the tension that had increased during their conversation, despite its original purpose being to relieve it.

"And I still don't know what to do about Cedric's birthday," he added aloud, unable to keep himself from laughing at the absurdity his night had devolved into.

"I really do believe you're over thinking that one," said Hermione. "Is it important? Yes. But you need to ask yourself: what feels right? What feels best for Cedric, and for you?"

It was such a simple question; Harry wondered why he hadn't thought of it before. Cedric, never one for too much attention or adoration, wouldn't want an enormous fuss made over his birthday. At the same time, Harry doubted he would want the day to pass unacknowledged. There was no way Harry could.

In the end, there was only one answer.

O O O O O O O

"Hey, did I tell you I got a birthday card from Fleur?"

"Fleur?" Harry echoed. "As in Fleur Delacour?"

"Do you know some other Fleur?" Cedric teased.

"Of course not, I'm just surprised, is all," said Harry. "Where the hell was my birthday card three months ago? I'm the one who saved her sister from the lake!"

"Well, you didn't really save her, she was safe the whole time," Cedric corrected him.

"That's not the point!" Harry argued. "She just sent you one because you're, y'know, you. Hufflepuff Hottie."

"Hey!" Cedric cried. "You don't know! Maybe I made a lasting impression."

"Or she was hoping to make one on you," Harry scoffed. "You know, as in sex."

"I got it, very funny," Cedric said, giving Harry a playful nudge. "Where are we going this late, anyway?"

October the seventeenth had landed on a Thursday, a school night, drastically narrowing Harry's options for day-of birthday celebrations. Thankfully, the conclusion he'd come to did not preclude being out on a school night. Or rather, it never had for them in the past.

"I thought we could revisit one of our old haunts tonight," Harry said. "After all, you're the one who said we hadn't been there in ages."

"The prefects'?" Cedric asked gleefully. "That is a nice surprise."

They arrived at the prefects' bathroom and followed the familiar ritual of Cedric giving the password to be allowed access. Harry found it odd that the word hadn't changed since the year before. Then again, there were less students using this room on a regular basis than there were coming and going from the four school houses. The boys didn't hesitate to strip completely naked as soon as the door was closed, even before the tub was filled. They were well past modesty at this point.

That being said, Harry did still get a thrill at the sight of Cedric in all his glory. He couldn't blame Fleur or Cho for fancying him. Cedric was a catch. Even when he was doing a ridiculously childish cannonball dive into the now-full tub.

"Before you get too comfortable in there," said Harry once Cedric resurfaced, "I do have something for you."

He slipped a small package out of his pants pocket. He sat at the tub's edge while Cedric dried his hands on one of the towels they'd retrieved and placed around the perimeter.

"You didn't have to, you know," he said, picking the present up gingerly.

"Oh, get real," Harry laughed. "Birthday. Present. The two sort of go wand-in-hand, don't they?"

"Guess you're right."

Cedric carefully undid the bow and pulled open the box it'd been holding shut. Nestled inside in a bed of silk was a pocket watch resembling a flattened, wingless Golden Snitch. He popped the tiny door open to reveal the Roman numeral-marked hours, and the silvery Snitch wings that served as hands.

"I was worried it would look like I was copying you," Harry said nervously. "You know…" He gestured at the Silver Snitch locket dangling over his heart. "But it seemed so perfect, I couldn't resist."

"I'm glad you didn't," Cedric gaped. "It's absolutely beautiful. Thank you, Harry."

They kissed, of course. This while Cedric very carefully slid the watch back into its box and away from the tub, so that when he pulled Harry into the water suddenly his new favorite possession wouldn't get wet.

**End Notes:** There was no way, when I woke up on the sixteenth, that I thought this would be ready to post the seventeenth. I had miles to go. But then inspiration struck, and I was able to type on-the-go using my Blackberry (no, I'm not sponsored, I just love my phone). By the end of the day, I had a chapter. Still didn't have a title, and still don't love this one, but what can you do? It fits.  
I probably won't be back for Chapter Eight until my usual anniversary post, December 7th. (Haven't missed one yet!) Especially now that I'm unemployed, my main focus needs to be writing that I can sell. As I always say (and people always ignore and send me messages about it anyway) I will **never** simply abandon this story! Even if I ever decided I couldn't write fanfic anymore, I would do a post telling you what would've become of this boys. That is a guarantee!  
All right? All right. –kevo


	8. Nobody's Perfect

**Title:** Sound of the Revolution, Chapter 08  
**Author:** kevo  
**Pairing:** Harry + Cedric.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** I do not claim ownership to these characters or the series they're from.  
**Summary:** In his fifth year, Harry faces ostracism with boyfriend Cedric for coming out and for declaring Voldemort has returned. (Order of the Phoenix canon re-write.)  
**Author's Note:** Another chapter I nearly didn't have out on time. But I would've been so disappointed in myself had I not posted on this story's anniversary. Which today is! Five years, baby! Woot!

The Love So Green Collection

Playlist #2:

sound of the revolution

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

"Nobody's Perfect"

"Come on, people, focus!"

The second meeting of Dumbledore's Army was not advancing the group's skills as far as anticipated. Everyone was paired off once again to work on Disarming. In truth, the problem wasn't a lack of focus; it was a lack of urgency. Harry, Ron and Hermione had perfected the charm under circumstances that most teenagers didn't ever face. He struggled to find the right words to express this without using his past as an example. That was Gilderoy Lockhart territory, a place Harry vowed never to tread.

"This isn't chess," Harry snapped as he observed the group. "You don't have time to ponder your next move while your partner takes his turn. You need to always be thinking, always be ready. You're not just reacting, you're acting independently of your opponent's actions."

_Merlin, could I have used the word "act" anymore?_ Harry chided himself.

He made sure not to let this insecure thought show on his face or break the aura of confidence he was attempting to exude. Eager to gain insight from someone more experienced in the field, Harry had written Lupin for teaching advice. The former professor told him that, first and foremost, he had to appear confident to maintain control over the class, or else they would walk right over him. After the incident with Ginny at the last meeting, he wasn't about to give them another reason to doubt him.

Recalling the redhead's rage, Harry snuck a peak at her across the room. She had steadfastly avoided speaking or in any way drawing attention to herself from the moment she entered the Room of Requirement. Whether this meant Harry's words had resonated wasn't apparent until the session was over and she finally approached him.

"Harry, can I talk with you?" she asked, still barely making eye contact.

"Yeah, all right," Harry replied.

He led her outside and a good distance down the corridor, out of earshot.

"I'm sorry for the way I've been behaving," Ginny said. "These last few months, I know that I've… Anyway, I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," Harry told her.

"I know," Ginny agreed. "Only I owe you both an apology. Because he's your – your boyfriend, and I should've treated him better. It wasn't fair to you. So I'm, like I said, I'm sorry.

"Thanks," said Harry. "Sorry if I was rude to you the other day."

"You were justified," Ginny assured him. "I was rude to you long before that. It's just… It's hard for me."

"I know," Harry replied, understanding her meaning.

"Are you…" Ginny began hesitantly. Harry could guess what she was trying to ask. "I mean, are you definitely…"

"Yes."

"Okay," said Ginny.

"I'm…"

Harry stopped himself. He was about to say again that he was sorry, but it didn't feel right this time. What was he sorry for? Being gay? Certainly not. Even if it did hurt Ginny that Harry was, he couldn't apologize for it.

"I'm glad we talked," he concluded. "Are we going to be okay?"

"I hope so," she replied. Her eyes were slightly shimmery with unshed tears, but Harry pretended not to notice them. "I still need to talk to Cedric, I know, but I'm not really ready for that yet."

"Sure," said Harry. "But don't put it off for too long. He's actually," he hesitated briefly, unsure how she'd react to him saying this, "he's a real great bloke. You should get to know him."

"Of course he's great," Ginny said, smiling slightly. "Why do you think I hated him so much?"

Without anything else to say, the two friends parted ways. Harry found Cedric waiting for him outside the Room of Requirement. Harry replayed the conversation for him, including Ginny's promise to speak with Cedric soon.

"You know, Hermione said she has a crush on Michael Corner now," Cedric told him.

"Michael Corner as in…?"

"Fred Weasley's 'friend'? Yup."

"Damn," said Harry. "She just keeps falling for gay blokes."

"It would seem to be her type," Cedric concurred. "And Michael does have a taste for Weasleys. Unfortunately for Ginny, that taste excludes females. Poor girl." After a wistful sigh, Cedric slapped his hands together and said, "So, we still on for drills tomorrow?"

Ever since Ron had been picked as the new Gryffindor Quidditch team's Keeper, Harry and Cedric had been running plays with him in private on top of the team's existing practices. They both knew Ron had the aptitude to be a great Keeper, yet he was severely lacking in confidence. The extra training seemed to be helping. Whether it would make enough of a difference for the impending match against Slytherin was difficult to tell.

"Yeah, sure," Harry said. "I mean, if you're okay with it. I don't want to cause a problem for you, with your team. A captain helping out a rival team's Keeper…"

"I'm not going to go blabbing to them about it, but I think they'd understand," Cedric reasoned. "And it's just for this first game. After you guys trounce Slytherin and Ron realizes he's a good Keeper, you guys are on your own."

"Here's hoping," Harry muttered.

"Plus, for all you know, I'm only helping so I can spy on you and him and report his weaknesses back to my own team," Cedric informed him.

"Yeahh, sure, Cedric," Harry snickered.

O O O O O O O

As it turned out, Cedric may as well have been working against them, for all the good their training sessions did.

Not that it was Cedric's fault, or even Ron's for that matter. If it weren't for that stupid song putting him off, Ron would've done great. Perhaps that's what had made Harry so edgy and so easily provoked once the game was over. There was nothing, though, that could've prepared him for the consequences of his altercation with Draco Malfoy.

Upon returning from McGonagall's office, he found Cedric waiting outside the Gryffindor common room for him. At Harry's insistence, they walked to a more secluded part of the seventh floor corridor so they could talk privately. Harry was skittish about using the Room of Requirement now that others knew of its existence. He didn't want to be walked in on during an intimate moment or, even worse, accused of breaking the rule he'd imposed on the others.

He retold the events that transpired on the pitch, as Cedric had been in the stands and, like the rest of the spectators, was unable to hear what had caused the fight to break out. Then Harry divulged what came next; being taken to Professor McGonagall's office, being interrupted by Umbridge, and, finally, being banned from Quidditch.

"That's really awful," Cedric said. "I'm so sorry, Harry."

"I still can't believe it," Harry sighed. "I know Umbridge has it in for me, but this… Short of expulsion, I can't imagine a worse punishment. And for what? I didn't even do anything!"

"Well…"

"Well what?" Harry asked, uncertain he wanted the answer.

"Harry, you did start a fight," Cedric pointed out.

"**He** started it!" Harry argued. "He's **always** starting it! And what am I supposed to do, just let him say awful things like that?"

"Uh, yes," said Cedric, as though it was the simplest answer in the world. "They're words, Harry. You all let that twat provoke you into doing these stupid things all the time. Like at the end of last year when Fred and George jinxed Malfoy and his friends on the train. Maybe now you'll think before you…"

He stopped, leaving the sentence unfinished.

"What are you saying?" Harry prompted him. "You think I deserved to be banned?"

"That's not what I was saying," Cedric replied, though his tone conveyed a different answer.

"It's what it sounded like. Do you or don't you?"

"Harry, you practically started a riot on the Quidditch pitch!" Cedric cried. "You don't think that merits some amount of punishment?"

"He was insulting my family!" Harry shot back. "And Ron's!"

"So you had to punch him?"

"Yeah, I did!" Harry nearly shouted. "Because that's what you do when someone insults the people you care about! You do something about it, you don't just walk away like some kind of…"

Now it was Harry's turn to leave his statement unfinished.

"Some kind of what, Harry?" asked Cedric, with an icier voice than Harry usually heard from his boyfriend.

"Forget it."

"No, please," Cedric insisted. "Finish. Some kind of wimp? Or a ponce?"

"I wasn't going to say that," Harry denied.

"It's what it sounded like," Cedric replied, throwing Harry's own words back at him. "Is that what you think of me? That I'm a wuss because I believe problems should be solved with words instead of violence?"

"No! Merlin! Why is this even a discussion?" Harry wondered angrily. "I've had about the shittiest night. I was hoping for some support from my boyfriend."

"I don't blindly give you my support simply because we're involved, Harry," Cedric told him. "If I think you did something wrong, I'm going to tell you. That's just the way it is."

"I don't need this right now," Harry grumbled. "When you decide you're done being an asshole, come find me. Until then, fuck off."

Without giving Cedric a chance to respond, Harry stormed off, back to the Gryffindor dormitory. He'd regret saying that, he already knew it, but right now he was too angry to care.

O O O O O O O

The return of Hagrid that night, and the gamekeeper's tale of where he'd been, provided temporary relief for Harry's foul spirits. He didn't give his fight with Cedric another thought until the following morning. When he did, he decided he was still annoyed. Maybe he shouldn't have curse at his boyfriend like that, yeah. But Cedric **was** being spectacularly unsupportive, and that's just as bad. Maybe worse.

Okay, maybe not worse.

He stomped down to the Great Hall for breakfast with Ron and Hermione, before Hermione took off to help Hagrid with lesson plans. If Cedric attempted to talk to him, Harry was willing to listen. And so he waited. And waited. And even after more than an hour passed, despite the pile of homework waiting for him and Ron's paradoxical claim that he was no longer hungry, Harry insisted that they wait a little longer.

Cedric was nowhere to be found.

It wasn't until dinner that Harry finally saw him. The older boy didn't spare a single glance toward the Gryffindor table. This was troubling. Even when they would squabble, he at least got the sense that Cedric was deliberately trying to keep himself from looking at Harry. This was different.

The week went on and Harry barely saw Cedric for more than a few seconds a day. It rapidly became apparent that this wasn't because he was suddenly and unexpectedly busy. He was avoiding Harry. The only time Cedric had ever done that was during their not-so-brief separation before the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. Which left Harry to wonder: had he screwed up so badly that Cedric wanted to break up with him?

It had been nearly five whole days when, sitting in the Gryffindor common room, Ron said out of nowhere, "So, you and the boyfriend are fighting, eh?"

"What?" said Harry. "What makes you think that?"

"You're being all moody," Ron replied.

"I've been banned from Quidditch. You don't think that'd put me in a bad mood?"

"Yeah but that's a different kind of bad mood," Ron said. "When stuff like that happens, you get more cranky. Like last year, with the Goblet of Fire and us not talking. When you're upset about Cedric you go catatonic." At Harry's raised eyebrows, he added, "All right, that's the word Hermione used for it. But you are!"

"I guess," said Harry. "Has it really been a year since my name came out of the Goblet of Fire?"

"Yes it has, my friend," Ron said. "More than."

"That means Cedric and I have been dating for nearly a whole year," Harry realized.

"If you ignore that nasty bit back in February," Ron threw in.

"Which we do," Harry said, conveying with his voice that 'we' was meant to include Ron in it.

"Well, you got over it, didn't you?" Ron said in his own defense. "And you'll get through this too. I'm not worried, and you shouldn't be either. Just go find him and apologize."

"What makes you think I'm the one who did something wrong?"

"Did you?"

"Yeah," Harry admitted reluctantly. "Still, cheap shot."

"Speaking as the guy who's usually the one who screwed things up, it's easy to tell," Ron said. "Now, do what I said. Find him and talk it out."

"He's avoiding me," Harry argued. "How can I go find him when he doesn't want to be found?"

"Easy," said Ron. "Where does he go when he's ticked off? Hermione, she goes to the library. It works out pretty great for me, because she would never cause a scene in there, and Madam Pince would have a fit if she yelled."

Where would Cedric go? Harry mulled over the possibilities. The library, like Hermione? Probably not. The Quidditch pitch? Maybe, though Harry wasn't keen to go down there anytime soon. He could always stake out the prefects' bathroom or the Hufflepuff dormitory, wait until Cedric showed up.

Then Harry recalled a conversation they had before the first official meeting of Dumbledore's Army, about that brief separation in February. He remembered where Cedric said he used to go, hoping Harry would find him there.

"I know where he is."

O O O O O O O

When Harry arrived at the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, he found the Room of Requirement's door was already there waiting for him. He wondered if anyone else who passed by was able to see it, or if it was invisible to all but him. He didn't give the matter much thought. He grabbed the knob and opened the door.

Inside, in their usual configuration of the room, sitting on their favorite couch, was Cedric. He was clearly startled by Harry's appearance.

"Shit, Harry," he gasped, clutching his chest, "you nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry," Harry mumbled. "I thought maybe you'd be in here."

"And here I am."

There was a moment of awkward silence. Harry hadn't formulated a plan for what to do about his boyfriend beyond finding him.

"Cedric, I'm sorry," Harry began. "What I said, it was completely out of line. I was angry, but that's no excuse."

"Harry, don't," Cedric interrupted, rising from the couch. "It was my fault. I got myself worked up, and I let that affect what I said to you. What you did, going after Malfoy… It's the kind of thing my dad would've been proud of. He always used to be on me to defend myself, be a man, but it's just not me. I'm a Hufflepuff, through-and-through."

"That's one of the things I love about you, Cedric," Harry told him. "You don't need to use your fists to prove that you're brave."

"_**I**_ know I don't," said Cedric. "I only worry that sometimes you… You're a Gryffindor, y'know? And, like I said, I'm a Hufflepuff. We both know the reputation my house has. I couldn't stand thinking you might –"

"I'm not your dad," Harry said firmly. "And I would never poke fun at you like he did with your mom."

"Okay," Cedric replied.

"So if you knew all this, why didn't you just say something a few days ago?" Harry asked.

"Because I'm an idiot?" Cedric ventured. "I know I should've just said something to you, but I was embarrassed. I screwed up pretty bad, and I didn't know what to do. I'm not perfect, y'know?"

"You are to me," Harry said. And he meant it. "I get it, though. Merlin knows I haven't been perfect. You were right. Whether your dad would've been proud of it or not, fighting Malfoy was stupid. I mean, really. What he knows about real family could fill a doxy egg. Oh, and by the way –"

Without another word, Harry closed the gap between them and kissed his boyfriend. It had been far too long since he'd last done that. After two or three dozen of those, Harry pulled back so he could speak again.

"About that thing I said. Or rather didn't say."

"Harry, you don't have to –"

"No, I do," Harry insisted. He cupped Cedric's face in his hands, both out of love and out of a necessity to have Cedric looking at him when he said this. "You are one of the bravest people I know. All the shit you've been through in the past few months, and you never give up."

"It's nothing compared to what you've done," the older boy scoffed.

"I'm probably not the standard that anyone our age should measure themselves against. For anything."

"Perhaps not," Cedric conceded.

"And hey, y'know what I realized earlier?" Harry asked, hoping to move past the dreadful argument. "It's November."

"Yes, Harry, all month," Cedric replied with a playful amount of pomposity.

"Ha ha, that's not what I meant," replied Harry. "We've been dating for a year now."

"Yeah, we have," Cedric smiled. "Our anniversary isn't until the twenty-fourth, but we were definitely doing some heavy flirting at this point."

"At least **now** I know we were flirting," said Harry wearily. "I was a nervous wreck. I'm **still** not sure what '_don't tempt me_' was supposed to mean. Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing at all."

With a trademark sexy grin, Cedric tugged Harry in for another kiss as he murmured, "Could've fooled me."

**End Notes:** Hope you enjoyed it! Originally I hadn't planned the stuff about Cedric being insecure about being more of a pacifist. It came to me as I was finishing the chapter over the past few days. I wanted to emphasize that Harry and Cedric aren't a completely perfect match, and that that's okay.  
When I posted the first chapter of "A Lack of Color", I was nineteen on the verge of twenty. Now I'm twenty-four on the verge of twenty-five, and less than a year away from getting married. Suffice it to say, I've gone through a lot in the last five years. It has been an absolute pleasure to have this story, and you readers, along with me on that journey.  
I'll try not to take another five years to finish the story. -kevo


	9. Keep Myself Awake

**Title:** Sound of the Revolution, Chapter 09  
**Author:** kevo  
**Pairing:** Harry + Cedric.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** I do not claim ownership to these characters or the series they're from.  
**Summary:** In his fifth year, Harry faces ostracism with boyfriend Cedric for coming out and for declaring Voldemort has returned. (Order of the Phoenix canon re-write.)  
**Author's Note:** I survived an earthquake AND a hurricane to bring you this update, guys! Hope you enjoy it.

The Love So Green Collection

Playlist #2:

sound of the revolution

**CHAPTER NINE**

"Keep Myself Awake"

To say that things were looking up for Harry by the time Christmas arrived would be a gross overstatement. However, despite seemingly insurmountable odds, he found himself in higher spirits as the school break approached.

True, Umbridge continued to terrorize Harry and his fellow students. And many of those students continued to glare at Harry and Cedric in the corridors, either because they were testifying that the Dark Lord had returned or simply because they were holding hands. Sometimes both. And, on top of all that, one of the few activities that brought Harry joy, Quidditch and flying, had been taken away from him, permanently.

So yes, when he dwelled on those overwhelming facts, it was natural to become despondent.

Nevertheless, as he watched the members of Dumbledore's Army practicing everything they'd learned over the last two months, and saw how much they all improved since the first meeting, he felt a swell of pride, in them and in himself. Their skills had grown rapidly, much more so than Harry expected.

And more than being just a place for students to learn proper defensive magic, the D.A. became a refuge for students living under Umbridge's regime. It was a place where they could once again embrace the joy of magic, despite the wicked toad's attempts to suck it all out like an oddly-round Dementor.

To mark the joyful occasion of it being their last meeting of the term, Cedric decided to play some music as they lobbed jinxes at one another. It was an eclectic mix of Christmas songs, wizard and Muggle alike, from "God Rest Ye Merry, Hippogriffs" to "Another Rock n' Roll Christmas." Hermione was disapproving at first, but by the end Harry caught even her bopping along to the cheery tunes.

At the moment, Cedric was assisting Cho Chang and her friend Marietta with their jinx-casting. Cho was being unusually stiff with Cedric which, sadly, was no longer unusual for the pair. Keeping his promise to Hermione, Harry never told Cedric her theory about Cho and why she had become so distant with her gay ex-boyfriend. It pained him to only shrug when Cedric asked if he noticed any change in her behavior, but what else could he do? The truth would hurt Cedric beyond any lie.

"All right there, Harry? You look a bit lost."

He turned to face Ginny Weasley, whose practice partner was temporarily Stunned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry nodded. "Just thinking."

"Well, don't strain yourself," she teased. "Listen, I wanted to say – about my replacing you as Seeker – I hope you aren't too bothered by it."

"Not at all," Harry lied, struggling to keep a scowl from his lips.

He was bothered, but it had nothing to do with Ginny, or even Angelina for that matter, regardless of how cantankerous she was over the whole situation. Harry had no one to blame for his Quidditch ban but himself. And maybe Malfoy.

"I'm glad it's someone I can trust," he said, and this time he wasn't lying. "You're going to be great, Ginny."

"Thanks," Ginny beamed. "I only wish you and Fred and George were all still playing. It would've been nice, all of us playing on the team together, the whole family."

"Four Weasleys on one team?" Harry chuckled, helping Ginny's freshly-conscious partner to his feet. "I'd pity anyone who came up against you."

They shared a laugh at that, and Harry left her to continue practicing.

Their relationship was considerably better since Ginny's apology. Even better, in fact, than it was before Harry came out. Now that she no longer harbored feelings for Harry, Ginny was far less awkward around him. And although she still hadn't spoken to Cedric, she was a lot friendlier around him than she'd been. It was certainly a start.

Before Harry knew it, the meeting was over. He congratulated his fellow students on their development, dropping a hint about starting Patronuses next term before dismissing them.

"Was that really wise, Harry?" asked Hermione, her voice low and clearly frazzled by his actions. "We've only been doing this a couple of months. I don't know if everyone's ready for that. Patronuses are highly advanced magic."

"I only said it was a maybe, Hermione," Harry replied. "And it wouldn't be the first meeting back. We'll see how everyone is coming along by February or March and make a decision then. Me and Cedric can both do the Patronus Charm. We shouldn't have much problem teaching it to everyone else, not if they all keep it up at this rate."

"I suppose that's true," Hermione said. "Maybe I'll check out some books on the Patronus Charm to read over the break."

"I'd've thought you'd be busy keeping up with your pen pal over the break," Ron muttered darkly as he shuffled past them.

The latest fiasco in their tumultuous romance involved Ron finding out Hermione was still in touch with Viktor Krum, and had been keeping a steady correspondence with him since they parted ways last summer. Needless to say, Ron was not pleased.

"He has no right, you know," Hermione said once Ron was out of the room. "Viktor and I, we're not even… It isn't like that between us. And anyway, it's not as if Ron and I are together."

"You're not?" Harry murmured absently, tidying up the Room of Requirement.

"No," she snapped. Then, "Well… I–I'm not sure anymore."

A passing student jostled Hermione on his way out. She cleared her throat and glanced around at the thinning crowd. Harry could see her begin to close off, as she had so many times before when they spoke about her and Ron's relationship.

"I should get going," she said. "We can, um. We can more talk about this later."

"Sure," replied Harry, knowing they'd be doing nothing of the sort.

He busied himself some more tidying the Room. For some reason, the one thing the Room of Requirement didn't do was clean up after its occupants. If they left their Dumbledore's Army room in disarray, it would be in the same state the next time it appeared. Soon, Harry thought everyone was gone, until he felt a strong pair of arms wrap around his waist from behind and soft lips graze his neck.

"Mm, careful, my boyfriend might see," he murmured. "He's the jealous type."

"Oh he is, huh?" the other boy inquired.

"Yep," said Harry. "So you'd better be worth my trouble."

"I am always worth your trouble, Harry Potter," Cedric promised, turning his boyfriend around for a proper kiss.

"I'm gonna miss getting those every day."

"It's worth the sacrifice, far as I'm concerned," Cedric said. "Knowing you're spending Christmas at the Burrow, that you'll have a decent holiday for once, that's good enough for me."

"Christmas at Hogwarts isn't so bad," Harry countered. "I spent the last four Christmases here. We had our first Christmas together here."

"We did," Cedric agreed. "And you know that if you weren't going to be with the Weasleys I'd've blown my parents off to spend it here with you again."

Harry nodded, although he would never have let Cedric do anything of the sort.

He'd played it cool on the surface, but Harry felt the elation that went through Cedric when he got that owl insisting he come home for Christmas break. Harry wouldn't let Cedric pass up that opportunity, even if it had meant spending the holiday alone. Then again, this was much easier to believe knowing he did have somewhere to go.

"But you'll come visit?" Harry asked.

"As soon as I can," replied Cedric. "The Burrow isn't far. I could walk it if I wanted."

"Apparation will do just fine," Harry advised him, "I don't want you freezing to death on top of everything else that's happened." He hesitated before asking, "Is it pathetic to say I wish we weren't going? Whatever's going on, at least you can always say Hogwarts is safe. This is like last June all over again. Saying goodbye in that dingy King's Cross bathroom, not knowing when I'd see you again. Or even, with Voldemort on the loose, **if** I'd see you again."

"Don't get all maudlin on me, Potter," Cedric chided, brushing back Harry's bangs and kissing the scar on his forehead. "It's only for a few weeks. It'll go by like," he snapped his fingers, "that. And think: this will be a nice respite from Umbridge's reign of terror."

"Okay, that's a decent point," said Harry. "I can't imagine it'll be a very festive Christmas at Hogwarts this year. Even Grimmauld Place would seem cheerful by comparison."

And while the boys laughed at the idea, Harry would later look back and wonder if he'd inadvertently jinxed himself with those words.

O O O O O O O

Barely eighteen hours later, Harry was lying on his bed at 12 Grimmauld Place, contemplating the ordeal he'd been through in that time; the vision-dream, the escape from Hogwarts, the waiting, the trip to St. Mungo's.

Learning he'd been possessed by Lord Voldemort.

He showered while the others slept, hoping it might help, might make him feel less... contaminated. No use. The feeling went deeper than his skin. Even scrubbing his body as hard as he could with soap and a washcloth didn't make him feel any better. Having the darkest wizard ever known inside your head wasn't something you could wash down the drain.

In spite of Dumbledore's orders to stay put, Harry kept thinking about running away. If what Mad-Eye said was true, if Voldemort could reach out and take control of him at any time, it would be best for everyone around him. He would gladly confine himself to Privet Drive for the rest of his life if it meant keeping those he loved safe. The Weasleys and Hermione and Sirius and Cedric...

Cedric.

He would have noticed Harry and the Weasley children were missing by now, wouldn't he? Of course he would. Harry skipped breakfast one morning to finish an essay and Cedric was in a panic by lunch. Hermione, too, would be wondering where they all were. Would Dumbledore explain their absence? Or would he leave them in the dark, as he'd been leaving Harry for the last six months?

Imagining how they must be worrying forced Harry to accept that he could never really run away. Cedric would come after Harry, and Hermione and Ron would be right behind him.

So instead he went back to the drawing room, turned on all the lights, and sat on the musty old couch listening to his CD player. There was one Muggle artist Cedric had given him, Tori Amos, whose music was like a tranquilizer for Harry's misery. It didn't cure it, only numbed it a bit.

He sat listening to her CD on repeat until the sun was up, waving lazily at anyone who came in and ignoring their attempts to engage him in conversation. When he was certain that everyone else was awake, and only then, Harry went to the room he shared with Ron and laid down to sleep.

O O O O O O O

Upon arriving at the House of Black on Friday evening, Hermione burst in on Harry with barely a knock.

After the few hours of sleep he'd managed to reap, Harry spent the day holed up in the room where Sirius was keeping Buckbeak. Mrs. Weasley tended to avoid the animal's quarters, and the Weasley children were already giving him a wide berth.

Harry allowed Hermione to force a sandwich on him but refused to leave Buckbeak's room or accept any more company than hers. Even then he didn't plan on letting her stay long. He only needed her for information. It was the second night since they absconded from Hogwarts, after all, without any news of what happened there after he and the Weasleys fled.

"Dumbledore told me first thing that morning what'd happened," she relayed. "I couldn't leave right away, though. Umbridge was already fuming over him letting you all leave without her knowing about it."

"Did he tell Cedric?" Harry asked. "Does he know?"

"He had me tell Cedric," said Hermione.

"Why couldn't Dumbledore tell him?" Harry wondered, annoyed.

"I don't know," Hermione admitted. "We only spoke for about a minute. I imagine that must've been risky enough, with Umbridge on the warpath."

Harry wasn't entirely satisfied by her reasoning.

She tried a few more times to get Harry to come downstairs, but her efforts proved ineffective. Eventually she gave up, and went down on her own, leaving Harry to feed the hippogriff dead rats as he sulked.

Again, he forced himself to stay awake through the late hours of the night. Once the others were all up and about for the day, Harry trudged downstairs and crawled into bed.

O O O O O O O

A gentle yet insistent hand stirred Harry from his dreamless sleep.

"Harry," he heard a distant voice whisper. "Harry, babe, wake up."

He did, ever so resentfully. It couldn't have been more than two or three hours since Harry laid down to rest. Not much less than he'd gotten since his nightmare – or rather, his possession. Even so, it was less than Harry would've preferred, and he didn't appreciate being woken, even if it was by –

"Cedric?"

"You've got to stop falling asleep with your glasses on," Cedric chided him. "You're going to damage them."

"I can just have 'mione fix 'em," Harry mumbled through a haze of exhaustion. He removed his crooked spectacles and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Whu – What time is it?"

"About noon," said Cedric. "A little after. You're sleeping rather late."

Harry shrugged.

"How were things at home?"

"Could've gone better," Cedric muttered darkly. "I wouldn't get used to having that bed to yourself if I were you."

"Oh no," Harry sighed, "what happened?"

"I got in last night," Cedric relayed. "Things were tense, as I expected. I haven't spoken my father since the day of my hearing. And that wasn't much of a conversation, you'll recall. He was very formal with me. 'How're your grades? How's Quidditch?' That sort of thing. I mean, he usually asks me about those, but it was different, you know?"

"Sure," said Harry, who, having no parents, did not know but could imagine.

"Then this morning, I told them I wanted to pop over here for a little while. I knew you were safe, because Hermione told me Dumbledore spoke with her. Even so, I was anxious to see you. So as soon as I said it, my dad went mental. Started hollering about how I wasn't back a full day and already taking off to see 'that boy.' I tried to explain – without telling the whole truth – that there'd been an emergency and you'd left without warning, and I wanted to make sure you were all right. Mum was on my side. That was rather nice. She tried to offer a compromise, that I'd come by tonight after dinner instead. He wasn't having any of it. Said he couldn't stop me from behaving – from doing what I want at school, but as long as I was staying under his roof I wasn't to see you. So I left. Again."

"I'm always causing trouble for you," Harry grumbled.

"No, **you** are not," Cedric insisted. "He's the one. You know, in a way, I'm almost glad this all happened. Coming out after the tournament, the stuff in the _Prophet_, all of it."

"Eh? How's that?"

"My whole life," Cedric said firmly, "has been lived for that man's approval. I never even told him I want to do Muggle Relations after Hogwarts because he thinks it's a useless department. But it's what _**I**_ love, what _**I**_ want to do! And I'll be damn good at it, too. I shouldn't have to feel ashamed. For doing what I love, for being with the person I love. For being myself."

"That's good, then," said Harry. "I'm sorry Dumbledore didn't tell you himself what happened to us, by the way. You must've been worried sick."

"Oh, I was," Cedric replied. "But I don't blame him. Order business and all. I'm glad he didn't try and contact me, with Umbridge being irate as she was. It would've been highly suspicious, given our relationship. Yours and mine, that is. No, Hermione was the safer one to talk to."

He nodded, understanding but unsure he could be so level-headed if their roles were reversed.

Harry thought of Sirius and the Weasley twins sniping at each other that morning. Sirius had told them that their impatience, their reluctance to follow instructions in a time of personal crisis, was exactly why they hadn't been allowed to join the Order. Afterward, while they were visiting Mr. Weasley at the hospital, Harry couldn't help seeing the way they bombarded their father with questions about how and why he was attacked in a new light. Their blasé attitude about the Order's secrecy was startlingly inappropriate, given the timing and their location. Clearly Sirius was on to something about them not being mature enough to be in the Order.

So what was it they saw in Cedric that they would allow him to join up over them? Was it solely that he was of-age? Was it his involvement in the night Voldemort returned? Or was there something Cedric had that the Weasley twins hadn't yet developed? Given how well he knew the older boy, Harry was willing to bet on the last one.

As if to prove this unspoken specialness, Cedric asked insightfully, "Why are you still in bed? Hermione mentioned you were being strange. She was a bit vague, though."

"I've been staying up all night," Harry told him. "Sleeping in the daytime."

"What on Earth would possess you do that?" asked Cedric.

"Funny you should put it that way…"

So Harry told Cedric everything, from being inside Voldemort's snake all the way to being woken by him several minutes earlier.

"I feel like, if I'm awake while everyone else is asleep, I don't have to work about – you know, attacking them, or anything," Harry explained. "Like they're safer. Plus, now no one has to be around me during the day anymore. Which is good. It's better this way."

"You think people don't want to be around you?" Cedric inquired.

"It's not that I think they don't, although maybe that's true, I dunno," said Harry. "It's that they shouldn't be. It's too much of a risk. **I'm** too much of a risk."

"If that were true, don't you think Dumbledore would have sequestered you away somewhere?" Cedric argued. "He definitely wouldn't let you come here, to the headquarters of Voldemort's only opposition. Say what you will about his methods or what have you, but there's no denying that."

No, there wasn't any denying that, regardless of how Harry felt toward the headmaster lately.

"Can I tell the others you're up?" Cedric asked. "Maybe scrounge up some lunch while I'm at it?"

Perhaps it was finally retelling the events for what he always knew would be the last time, or even simply the palliative nature of Cedric's presence. Whatever the cause, the fog that'd clouded Harry's mind the last couple of days dissipated slightly. Enough to let a genuine, if wry, smile slide across Harry's lips for the first time since Wednesday night.

"If you must," he said.

Within a quarter of an hour, Harry was sitting up in bed, slurping down a bit of stew, surrounded by his friends. While Hermione sat at the foot of Harry's bed and Cedric sat beside him, the Weasleys remained distant, Ron leaning against the wardrobe and Ginny seated on her brother's bed.

"How're you feeling?" Ron asked timidly.

"Lousy," Harry replied. "Since August we've been wondering what Voldemort's new weapon was. Who knew it'd turn out to be me?"

"Stop it," Hermione snapped. "Don't say that, it's not true."

"Oh?" said Harry. "And how d'you know that? Been inducted into the Order since I've been up here?"

"Not that you'd know," Ginny said, arms folded. "You've been either sleeping all day or hiding from the rest of us since we got back from the hospital."

"You don't want to talk to me," Harry informed her.

"Actually, I do," she retorted, her tone softening dramatically. "We've been talking about it, what you told us, and – oh, don't look at me like that, I just said we wanted to talk to you. Harry, you said saw all of it happen? The attack, everything?"

"Yes."

"When You-Know-Who used me to open the Chamber of Secrets three years ago, I had no memory of what he did while he possessed me," Ginny recalled. "Can you recollect any gaps in your memories? Any instances lately where you don't remember where you've been or what you've been doing?"

"If he could, then he wouldn't not remember, would he?" Ron mused.

"Hush," demanded Hermione.

After thinking on it for a minute, Harry replied with a tentative, "No, I don't think so."

"There you have it, then," Ginny decreed. "You can't've been possessed by You-Know-Who."

"It cannot be that simple," Harry argued, though he also ventured a meek, hopeful, "Can it? There could be other kinds of possession or, or…"

"There are," Cedric said, though he seemed reluctant to admit it. "But it doesn't seem likely. Given the distance, the circumstances. It sounds more like the visions you had last year."

"This was different, this **felt** different!"

"Voldemort was only half-alive then, barely a corporeal being," Hermione pointed out. "Maybe, now that he's back, this is what they're like."

It wasn't much comfort, that. The notion that this may be something Harry would need to adjust to, to accept until Voldemort was defeated once and for all, made him shiver. Not as severely, however, as believing the dark wizard was able to hijack Harry's mind and body. Even a slight upgrade was welcome at this point.

"All right," Harry said. He scrubbed his face, attempting to banish the last vestiges of listlessness. "All right. I guess that's that, eh?"

"'That's that'?" Hermione repeated, eyeing him warily.

"Yeah," replied Harry. "Whatever happened… It happened. No use torturing myself about it or letting it ruin Christmas."

"That's a good idea, mate," Ron nodded.

Ginny got up from Ron's bed.

"Now that's sorted," she said, moving to the door.

"Ginny, wait!" Hermione said, exasperatedly glancing between Cedric and the red-headed girl. "You don't have to go."

"Yes I do," she replied, "and so do you, and my brother. These two haven't seen each other since Wednesday. They'll probably be wanting some time alone. I only wanted to get that bit out of the way as soon as Cedric got here because he tends to make Harry more level-headed than usual."

"Oy!" cried Harry, even though he was smiling.

"No use denying it," Ginny shot back. She held the door open. "So, like I said: that's sorted now. Come on, shift!"

"I'm only going to go back to sleep once you're all gone," Harry told them.

"Yeah, no one believes that," Ron chortled as he departed.

"But if you do actually sleep, don't let it be too long," Hermione advised, patting Harry's leg as she stood. "You don't want to muck up your sleep pattern."

"I'll make sure doesn't," Cedric assured her.

"Okay, good."

"Glad you're here, Cedric," Ginny said before shutting the door behind her. "He's bloody miserable to be around when he doesn't have you."

Alone at last, Cedric noted quietly, "I guess she's done hating me."

"She stopped hating you a while ago," Harry replied. "She just needed time."

"Good," said Cedric. "And you meant it before, right? You're done torturing yourself?"

"Yeahhh, why should I torture myself when Voldemort is doing such a fantastic job of it for me? Ow," he added in response to Cedric's reproaching swat to his shoulder.

"You just said –"

"There isn't a switch, Cedric," Harry said. "I can't simply turn off this feeling. After what Moody said, the thought is always going to be there, in the back of my mind, making me doubt myself."

_Kind of like Voldemort,_ he thought.

"But everything that you all said is true," he acknowledged. "And I know Dumbledore wouldn't let me stay here if I was a threat. He'd send me back to the Dursleys or something."

"Then I'd just follow you there, too," said Cedric, laying an arm across Harry's shoulders. "I'd camp out in the front yard. I still owe you that Muggle camping trip, you know."

"You do," Harry agreed. "With the one big sleeping bag for us both."

"You remember that bit, eh?" Cedric laughed. "Hey, what Ginny said before, is that true? You being miserable when I'm not around?"

"Oh, **that**," Harry scoffed. "No idea what she's talking about. Clearly the girl's insane. I manage just fine without you."

"Oh, is that right?"

The onslaught of tickling Harry received then was brutal and unforgiving.

O O O O O O O

The weeks that followed were pleasant and peaceful and, as Cedric had predicted, over before Harry knew it.

It wasn't all joy. A few days after Christmas, Mrs. Weasley heard Kreacher's mutterings about Harry and Cedric committing "unnatural, disgusting acts" in his mistress's house. From that point on, the two could barely find a moment alone that wasn't interrupted by her. The idea of saying something to Sirius about it was dismissed as quickly as it came to Harry. His godfather's approval of their relationship was already more than he could ask for. Running to him for help getting laid was out of the question. Eventually they were able work around Mrs. Weasley's grocery outings and get in a few decent, albeit rushed, private sessions before break ended.

Interactions between Ron and Hermione had been exponentially easier at Grimmauld Place than the preceding months at Hogwarts. Hermione was warmer and more affectionate, from sitting so close she was nearly in his lap to unabashedly stroking his hair. As for Ron… Well, he took his cues from Hermione in their relationship. If it were up to Ron, Harry suspected they would be outright dating already. Cedric theorized that the attack on Mr. Weasley was what prompted the turnabout in Hermione's behavior, and Harry agreed this was most likely. Neither wanted to question her about it, lest they ruin a good thing. Now that they were returning to Hogwarts, though, Hermione was slowly reverting to her old form, bristling at Ron's touch and snapping at him more than ever.

_I'll never understand girls,_ Harry thought. And luckily he would never have to.

Then again, her irritability may have had something to do with traveling so early in the morning, with the Knight Bus not being the smoothest form of conveyance. That, compounded with saying goodbye to his godfather and the prospect of Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape, was making Harry pretty grumpy himself.

He fidgeted nervously with the ring on his right hand. Harry was still adjusting to it being there. The ring was Cedric's Christmas present to him. To both of them, actually. They were a set; one for Harry and one for Cedric. He said he found the rings over the summer. He saw them in a shop in Little Whinging one day while waiting for Harry to escape his aunt and uncle's house. The two hands clasping the crowned heart reminded Cedric strongly of him and Harry taking the handles of the Triwizard Cup. The comparison struck him so hard that he bought the rings on the spot.

It was a sweet, romantic gesture. Harry liked having something they could both wear to symbolize their bond. Other than their matching scars, that is. The rings certainly made a much less dramatic statement. As he slid his on that evening, Harry noted dryly that Cedric seemed to get him jewelry every Christmas. He quickly retracted the thoughtless remark when the older boy winced, saying how he loved the token, and especially that the silver ring complimented his silver locket.

And it was the truth. But even so, there was a part of Harry that felt uneasy receiving such gifts. It was the same part of him that was irritated by Sirius's instruction that Cedric look after Harry when they got back to Hogwarts. Mrs. Weasley had done the same in September. Harry barely excused it then, and only because he knew that was the sort of thing mothers did. Coming from Sirius, who knew how capable Harry was of defending himself, it was almost insulting. He was aware that gender norms weren't applicable in his relationship with Cedric the same way they were in a heterosexual pairing. Yet there were times Harry couldn't help feeling like "the girl," or at least that he was being treated that way. He was the more likely of the two to fill that role, at least physically speaking. Despite having grown much since they began dating, Harry remained shorter and skinnier than Cedric. And of course he would always be younger.

Harry shook his head in an attempt to drive those thoughts from it. They were silly, after all. Cedric knew Harry better than anyone, with the exception of Ron and Hermione, and he was rapidly surpassing even them. There was no way he would treat Harry like anything but his equal. At least, not intentionally.

How intensely Harry lamented their return to Hogwarts and sleeping apart did little to mitigate these feelings of girlishness. Gender roles aside, Harry slept better with Cedric beside him. He wished, not for the first time, that they could have been sorted into the same house, if only for the convenience. They probably couldn't get away with sleeping in each other's beds, but they also wouldn't be quite as far apart. Harry pondered whether this was what kept many students from dating outside their own house. It played a part in him not being better friends with any other Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws, for sure.

That night, after all the traveling was done and their things were unpacked and away, Harry and Cedric spent their last few hours before taking a walk across the grounds.

"I wish I didn't have these lessons with Snape," Harry complained.

"They'll be good for you," Cedric said. "I've done some reading on the subject. I think it will be very helpful."

"Why were you reading about Occlumency?"

"Um," he hesitated, biting his bottom lip for a second, "because of us. I was researching different forms of telepathy, hoping to find more clues about our connection."

"Oh," said Harry, unsure how to take this bit of news. "What did you find?"

"Nothing, really. I would've told you if I did. But something I read about in the course of my research was Occlumency, and Legilimency. That's sort of like what you might call mind-reading, only it's more complicated than that. The human mind is far too intricate to simply read in the way most people think of it. What we have, our Scar Sense, it's damn near Legilimency itself. I wondered, briefly, if Occlumency might help to diminish it."

"How come didn't you tell me about this?"

"I didn't –" Cedric sighed. "I wasn't keeping it from you."

"No, no –"

"It isn't like that."

"That's not what I was saying," Harry insisted. "I didn't mean – I wasn't accusing you of anything, Cedric. Honest. I was only curious why you hadn't mentioned any of this to me before. It affects both of us."

"I guess I didn't think you would be interested," Cedric said. "And I didn't… I-I-I don't want you to think I'm looking for a cure. I'm not. I don't need to keep you out of my head."

"It's okay if you do, you know," said Harry. "I wouldn't mind a bit more quiet in mine." He stroked his boyfriend's arm, then took his hand. "But I don't need to keep you out, either." He tapped his own head with Cedric's hand. "You're always welcome in here."

"Glad to hear it," Cedric smiled.

They continued the rest of the way around the lake holding hands in comfortable silence.

O O O O O O O

In a matter of days, life at Hogwarts post-Christmas grew progressively worse than it was before the holiday.

Occlumency lessons were a hellish experience. Harry's inexplicable connection to the Dark Lord's mind garnered no sympathy from his instructor, not that Harry expected anything of the sort from Severus Snape. The one good thing that'd come from them was the revelation that the door Harry had dreamt of for months was to the Department of Mysteries. Even that wasn't much consolation, as the answer only raised further questions.

This was followed almost immediately by a flash from Voldemort, joy over something Harry wouldn't know until the next morning when he read it in the _Daily Prophet_. The mass break-out from Azkaban. Ten of the most notorious, insane criminals alive, roaming free. It had everyone out of sorts, naturally. And then there was the less-popular news of Broderick Bode's supposedly accidental death. The connection between the dream door's location in the Department of Mysteries and Bode, an Unspeakable, was hard to question.

And to top everything off, Hagrid was on probation. This was hardly surprising– in fact, if anything, Harry couldn't believe it took Umbridge so long to strike – but that made it no less upsetting.

Hence the slumber party.

It was actually Ron's idea. Sort of. While reflecting on the pall hanging over the school, Ron recalled his twin brothers' New Year's Eve party the year before, and theorized that something similar might boost morale. Hermione was the one who suggested that they use the idea for Dumbledore's Army. Once the word had spread among its members, and Fred and George got their hands in it, things snowballed from there.

Now all they had to do was not get caught.

"Oh, Harry, you're such a pessimist," George chided as he crouched beside Harry and Cedric.

Like everyone else, the boyfriends were lying side-by-side on the comfortable, cushiony floor that the Room had provided for the occasion, along with the sleeping bags and pillows. The wall they faced was primarily dominated by a projection screen, the only source of light in the room.

"Look around, mate," said George. "Everyone's watching your movie things, and behaving themselves quite nicely. Except those two in the corner – oy, lovebirds, don't you ruin it for everyone else!"

"Don't worry, we're on it," Fred said with a nod.

They marched off through the rows of sleeping bags toward a dark corner of the room to police the situation.

"He's right," Cedric conceded. "Everything's under control. And they all love the movies."

"Can't go wrong with Disney," mused Harry. "It's so strange to me that none of you have ever heard of these stories. Some of these, they're just basic common knowledge. _Snow White_, _Cinderella_, _Sleeping Beauty_. Everyone knows them."

"Yeah, well, it's not like you've heard of _The Tale of the Three Brothers_."

"Got that right."

"Ooh, or _The Fountain of Fair Fortune_! I always loved that one. My mum had a cat named Sir Luckless when she was a girl."

"You'll have to tell it to me sometime," Harry mumbled into Cedric's chest.

"Hey," said Cedric, nudging Harry gently. "Hey you, no falling asleep yet. It's only eleven-thirty. You'll set a bad example."

"Oh, all right, all right!" Harry grunted. He propped himself up on his elbow and yawned, "There, better?"

"Much," Cedric grinned. "Now, explain to me again why some animals can talk in these films and other can't?"

"There are some mysteries, Cedric, that are just beyond solving."

**END NOTES:** I know the tag with the slumber party in the RoR is rather ass-random. No joke: the idea came to me in a dream about two years ago. How can you not include something like that? And it almost ended with Harry falling asleep on Cedric for the umpteenth time in this series, but I couldn't let that happen again.  
(Also: I couldn't find anywhere to include this in the chapter, but rule-abiding Hermione agreed to the crazy idea because it's DA-only and anyone who tattled would be struck by the SNEAK curse.)  
Congratulate me, I'm an uncle! I have two beautiful baby nieces. Plus getting married in two months. Crazy busy! But I hope to get the next chapter done and posted very soon. Thank you for reading! -kevo


	10. Heads Will Roll

**Title:** Sound of the Revolution, Chapter 10  
**Author:** kevo  
**Pairing:** Harry + Cedric.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** I do not claim ownership to these characters or the series they're from.  
**Summary:** In his fifth year, Harry faces ostracism with boyfriend Cedric for coming out and for declaring Voldemort has returned. (Order of the Phoenix canon re-write.)  
**Author's Note:** This is my favorite chapter of this story that I've written in quite some time. It's the one I've been most keen to write. Hope you like it!

The Love So Green Collection

Playlist #2:

sound of the revolution

**CHAPTER TEN**

"Heads Will Roll"

"We," Cedric declared, plopping down at the study table next to Harry, "are going out."

"Er, yes, Cedric, we are," said Harry. "Over a year now, yeah?"

"No, no, I don't mean - what I meant was, we're going on a proper date. Next weekend."

"Really?" Harry smiled. "I like the sound of that."

"I figured, you know, since we missed Valentine's Day last year, we ought to make up for it with this one, you know?"

"Definitely," Harry said.

Thankfully, his Occlumency lessons were already making it slightly easier to block their Scar Sense. Otherwise Cedric might've felt Harry's stomach drop as he realized he'd completely forgotten Valentine's Day was that weekend. Sometimes he really sucked at this boyfriend stuff.

Leaning a bit closer, Cedric went on to say, "And, listen, I don't want you to get me anything, okay? Maybe you have already, I don't know…"

"Um, I had something in mind but, uh, didn't make any purchases yet," Harry fibbed.

"Good, that's good," Cedric said. "I thought instead it might be nice to sit down together somewhere, like we used to during the summer in Little Whinging. Have you been to Madame Puddifoot's before?"

"Can't say I have," Harry replied, his brow furrowing. He never even heard of the place. Was it possible there were still areas in the tiny village that were as yet unknown to him?

"I figured as much," said Cedric. "It's more for couples."

"And -" Harry hesitated. "And you're sure you want us to go there then?"

Since their first trip to Hogsmeade as a couple, back in October, Cedric had been squeamish about a repeat performance. This may have had more to do with Mrs. Diggory's ambush than the funny looks they got from the village's inhabitants, but Harry wasn't willing to bet on it.

"Absolutely," Cedric insisted. "Why, don't you?"

"No, I do!" Harry assured him. "It - It sounds fun. Madame Puddifoot's, was it?"

"Yeah," answered Cedric. "I haven't been either, but I hear it's quaint. Kellan and Taylor always take their dates there, anyway. So what do you say?"

"I say you've got yourself a date, Mr. Diggory."

O O O O O O O

The prospect of a real and proper date was exhilarating, if a little daunting. What they'd done in Little Whinging could probably be called dates, except not really because they couldn't be the least bit affectionate. Not like they can in Hogsmeade, where there's little harm since everyone already knows about them. He made sure to wear the nicest shirt he had, and fussed with his hair for ten minutes to make it behave. Harry wanted their day to be perfect.

So when Hermione dropped down beside him Saturday morning and frantically said, "Harry, I need you to drop whatever you're doing today and meet me around noon in the Three Broomsticks," he wasn't pleased.

"What?" Harry squawked, dribbling a bit of egg down his chin. "I - no, no-no, I can't. What are you - Hermione, it's Valentine's Day."

"I'm aware what day it is, Harry," Hermione replied hotly.

"Yeah, well, Cedric and I have plans. Boyfriendly plans. Plans that don't involve meeting you for lunch, sorry."

"Harry, please," begged Hermione. She seemed genuinely distressed. "It's-it's important. I don't have time to argue or explain, I need to respond to this letter immediately." She waved the parchment wildly to emphasize her point. "Just say you'll do this for me, please?"

"I, uh… What about Cedric?"

"Bring him," she said. "I was going to ask you to anyway."

"Ehh, all right," Harry sighed in defeat. "I'll talk to him about it."

"Great," Hermione said, springing to her feet. "Thank you. You won't regret this."

The ominous feeling Harry was developing based on her frantic and secretive behavior said otherwise, but he shrugged it off. Hermione had always been there for him. He figured he owed her the odd unquestioned favor here and there.

"You coming as well?" Harry asked Ron, who had been silent throughout breakfast.

"Can't," he responded. "Practice. Just as well. I'd rather not be in Hogsmeade today, y'know? Happy couples and all."

"Right," Harry frowned. "Gotcha." Noticing Cedric getting up from the Hufflepuff table, he too rose from his seat, saying, "Speaking of happy couples. I'll see you later, okay? Good luck with practice."

"Cheers," said Ron. "Have fun with the Hottie."

"Always do."

They met at the entrance to the Great Hall, Cedric greeting Harry with a smile and a, "Hey there."

"Happy Valentine's Day," Harry said back.

"You too," said Cedric. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, slight problem, though…"

As they waited on line for Filch to sign them out for the day, Harry explained Hermione's sudden request.

"That's really strange," Cedric mused, fiddling with his Hufflepuff scarf. "Hermione's generally more forthcoming than that, isn't she?"

"Not always," Harry replied. He could recall a number of times she'd behaved so erratically. "Mostly when she gets like this, it means something serious is going on."

"Suppose we don't have a choice then, do we?"

"I'm sorry," Harry sulked. "I should've told her no. It's Valentine's and all."

"It's just a day, Harry," Cedric said, putting a comforting arm across Harry's shoulders. "This will be a brief, albeit unfortunate, detour. We still have the morning, and maybe whatever she needs won't even take that long and we can have most of the afternoon together as well. So cheer up, all right?"

"Well, if you insist on being all optimistic about it," Harry joked.

They walked to Hogsmeade that way, joking and laughing, Cedric's arm still slung around Harry. If they got sideways glances from passersby, Cedric seemed not to notice. Harry was grateful for Cedric's change in attitude, yet he couldn't help pondering what brought it about. He wasn't nearly this comfortable in the fall.

Then he recalled Hermione's behavior over the break, after Mr. Weasley's near-death experience. How she was much sweeter and affectionate towards Ron those few weeks at Grimmauld place. Perhaps with everything that happened lately, the snake dream and the Death Eater escape and Umbridge's constantly looming shadow touching everything, Cedric was doing the same thing now.

Whatever the cause, Harry was more than happy to reap the benefits of this unexpected transformation.

Turning down a narrow side street Harry never gave much thought to before, the boys arrived at Madame Puddifoot's Tea Shop.

"Huh," Cedric said as they entered.

"It's a bit…" Harry searched for a word to describe the shop.

"Girly?" Cedric supplied quietly.

"Yeah, sort of," Harry muttered back. "The, uh, the little flying babies and pink confetti aren't helping much, either."

"Do you want to leave?"

"No, it's fine," said Harry. "Can't hurt to try something new, right?"

There were a limited number of free tables remaining, so they grabbed one fast. Cedric's dorm mate Kellan was already seated with a Hufflepuff girl whose name Harry couldn't remember. He nodded hello briefly, keeping his focus on his companion.

"Didn't know Kel and Adrianna were getting together," Cedric observed. "She used to tease him something fierce back in the day, saying he thought he was Merlin's gift to witches."

"People change, I guess," Harry replied.

"Too right, that."

"Hello there, m'dears," a stout woman Harry guessed to be Madame Puddifoot greeted them. "Are you two waiting for your dates to arrive or would you like to order now?"

It was such a startlingly unanticipated moment that neither boy reacted at first. Couldn't she recognize who she was speaking to? Didn't she read the papers? It wasn't entirely inconceivable that the answer to both these questions was no, but the chances were so slim that Harry didn't even know what to say.

"Uh, actually, ma'am," Cedric answered slowly, reaching across the table to take the hand Harry had rested there, "we're not waiting for anyone."

"Oh!" The witch turned pinker than the cherubs' confetti. "Oh, I see. I'm - goodness gracious, I'm so sorry. I didn't - I mean to say, I've never…" She raised the order pad in her shaking hand. "What will it be then?"

"I'll have a coffee, please," said Cedric. "And you, Harry?"

"I'll, uh, have the same, I s'pose."

"Right," Madame Puddifoot said. "T-two coffees, coming right up."

She scurried away as swiftly as she could between the tightly-packed tables.

"That was weird," Cedric noted with a nervous chuckle.

"Right?" Harry agreed. "I didn't think there was anyone left in our world who didn't know about us." His hand felt oddly uncomfortable in Cedric's for once. Harry shifted in his seat. "Do you think… Should we maybe ease up a bit?"

"Weren't you the one who made a fuss over holding hands a few months ago?" Cedric asked.

"We - I don't - You're right, sorry," Harry stammered. "Just wasn't expecting that."

"Hey, c'mere."

Cedric leaned across the table to give a light peck.

"Ugh," a voice cried out.

A Ravenclaw girl at a nearby table was glaring at them with disgust. Her boyfriend didn't seem happy about what he was seeing either.

"D'you mind?" she sneered.

"I do actually," Cedric responded.

"She's right," said a Slytherin boy at another table. "It's bad enough you two have to parade that shit around at school. Can't you leave anywhere safe for us normal people?"

His date, looking mortified, mumbled, "Bernie, leave it alone…"

"Oy, watch it, mate," said Kellan, who had turned around in his chair when the commotion began.

"Oh, and what're you gonna do, throw me out?" the Slytherin mocked.

"No, but I will."

Madame Puddifoot had reappeared, gripping a tray of coffees so tightly that her knuckles were white.

"You can get out, right now," she said. "Same goes for you two over there, and anyone else who has a problem with these boys. This is my shop, and I won't tolerate that sort of thing in here. Especially not today."

The Slytherin and his date, as well as the Ravenclaw and hers and a third couple from the corner, slunk silently out the door. After a beat, everyone else went back to their own business. It was still Valentine's Day, after all. They had better things to think about. Madame Puddifoot came to the boys' table to deliver their coffees.

"Thank you for that," Cedric said. "It was very kind of you to say."

"I had a friend in school who was a lesbian," Madame Puddifoot told them. "She had a tough time of it. I'm sad to say I was one of the ones who didn't take the news too well. I was a kid, you know? But I suppose that's no excuse. She took her own life soon after graduation. I wish I'd been kinder to her when I had the chance." She gave them a tight, watery smile. "You two will always be welcome here."

"Thanks," Cedric replied.

"Yeah, thanks," echoed Harry.

They enjoyed their coffees together without further incident.

Noon rapidly approached and, after paying their bill and leaving a very generous tip, the boys made their way to the Three Broomsticks as promised. It had begun raining while they were in Puddifoot's so they moved briskly, huddled together under Cedric's jacket, thrown over their heads to protect them from the shower.

Hermione was waiting when they arrived, already at a table. Seated with her were Luna Lovegood and - No. It couldn't be.

"Harry, is that…?"

"I think it is."

Looking slightly worse for wear, and like she would much rather be anywhere else, was Rita Skeeter, former _Daily Prophet_ journalist and general pain in Harry's butt.

"Ah, boys, you're just in time," Hermione beamed, as if there was nothing odd about her choice of companions. Like they were meeting for their regular game of bridge. "I just finished explaining to Rita why I've called you all here."

"On a fool's errand," Rita muttered. "You know, I haven't agreed to do it yet, girlie."

"You will," Hermione replied flatly. "Beyond the fact that I have information that would get you thrown in Azkaban, you know the value of what I'm offering. This story -"

"This story is nothing!" Rita snapped. "No one wants to buy what you're selling, missy. They want gossip, intrigue. If it weren't for you, I could be making a killing right now. Sirius Black's break out of his Death Eater comrades, Dumbledore's slipping grasp on Hogwarts, not to mention Harry Potter's torrid homosexual affair with fellow Hogwarts student and former competing Triwizard champion Cedric Diggory."

"Wow, so you actually speak like a trashy newspaper in regular conversation then," Cedric marveled.

"It's a gift," she sneered.

"You can make a killing off of this and you know it," Hermione said. "Being the person to break this story, to tell the world the truth, you'd be revered. So much that it pains me to give it to you, but I'm desperate. And so are you, which is the final reason I know you'll do it."

"Um, hello?" said Harry, raising a hand. "I'm still not sure what's going on here. What story?"

"Your story," Hermione told him, eyes ablaze with excitement. "Yours and Cedric's. The truth about what happened last June, what's happening even now. Rita will interview you, and Luna's father will print it in his magazine."

This proposition was somehow stranger than the thought of Hermione, Rita, and Luna playing bridge. Ludicrous, that's what it was.

"Merlin's bloody goddamn - Hermione, can I talk to you over here for a second?"

Without waiting for an answer, Harry stood and moved to the nearest private corner of the pub. Hermione and Cedric both followed him.

In the lowest voice he could manage, Harry hissed, "Have you completely lost your mind?"

"Why is this so crazy?" Hermione asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"Well, for starters, you couldn't tell me this was your plan?"

"Honestly, no," said Hermione. "It may seem uncouth, but I thought it would be best to spring it on you last minute. Had I said something before now, you might have said no."

"I still might say no," Harry huffed. "This goes against everything Moody told us!"

"How does it do that?" Hermione challenged. "You wouldn't be saying anything Dumbledore hasn't since last June. Only now it would finally be printed in a reputed periodical."

"Reputed?" Harry echoed.

"It means -"

"I know what it means, Hermione. But _The Quibbler_?"

"Oh. Well, I know it isn't the most respected of titles…"

"That's putting it lightly," Harry scoffed.

"Oh, what do you know from newspapers?" Hermione replied. "You wouldn't have read past the front page of the _Prophet_ this summer if your boyfriend hadn't told you to!"

"That is so - You don't know that!" At the mention of him, Harry looked at Cedric. "You've been awfully quiet. What do you make of all this?"

Cedric shrugged.

"I…I don't know."

Even with his Occlumency lessons, Harry could feel Cedric's trepidation, and imagined he was projecting a fair amount of it himself. The two of them hadn't had a lot of luck with the press, especially of late. And putting their fates in the hands of Rita Skeeter was like trusting a cat with a particularly plump mouse.

"It's not - I mean, it couldn't hurt," Cedric said at last.

"It probably could hurt, actually," Harry argued.

"I guess. Still. I think - I think we should do it."

"Really?"

"Yes," said Cedric. "Maybe it's crazy, maybe it's stupid, but I don't care. I want our story out there. The truth."

There were a number of emotions coming off of Cedric now; determination, [something], and still a decent amount of fear. This was important to him.

"Yeah," Harry said. "Yeah, okay. Let's do it then."

He took Cedric's hand and led him back to the table, where their interviewer was ordering another firewhisky.

O O O O O O O

Their cross-examination by Rita Skeeter was neither pleasant nor short. She spent almost two hours squeezing every detail Harry and Cedric were willing to divulge. A few times she pressed too hard about the wrong subjects, and Harry nearly walked out. Whenever this happened, Cedric's hand found its way to Harry's knee, where it would sit, reassuringly, until Harry was calm again.

By the time it was all over, the afternoon had been spent.

As if that wasn't stressful enough, the thing Harry had been dreading since the school year began was finally here:

The Gryffindor/Hufflepuff Quidditch match.

He and Cedric teased one another about it months ago, the idea of them going broom-to-broom on the pitch. It all seemed so innocent until Angelina pulled Harry aside after a practice back in October.

"You and Diggory have something going on, yeah?" she had asked.

"I don't see how that's any of your business," Harry had answered her. "But yes, we do."

"It is my business," she'd snapped, "because you're my Seeker, and he's the enemy. I want your word that you won't go all moony when we play Hufflepuff in a few months."

"I've never gone 'moony' before," Harry grumped.

"What do you call that Quidditch match in your third year?" Angelina said. "When Wood told you off for not playing your best against Chang from Ravenclaw?"

"That - That was nothing," Harry replied, caught off-guard by the comparison. "I was just a kid back then."

"Come off it, that wasn't even two years ago," Angelina had pointed out, and her tone softened slightly there, the tiniest sliver of understanding edging in. "Listen, just promise me it won't affect your game, all right?"

"Of course it won't," Harry promised.

Since then, Harry made every effort not to think about the impending match. Angelina was right to take him aside, unpleasant as it was. He could argue that he never did any less than his best when competing against Cedric during the Tournament, but how much of that was competing **against** one another? Only the maze, really, and then they'd ultimately ended up working together. That wasn't an option in Quidditch.

Being banned from the game was almost a blessing. It physically pained Harry to think of his Firebolt locked up in Umbridge's office, but no more than it did to imagine snatching the Snitch out from under his own boyfriend. Or worse, to imagine Cedric taking it from him. Part of Harry even wondered if Cedric would have thrown the game on purpose. That was the worst scenario of all. Defeating Cedric or losing to him were one thing. Having victory handed to him would be humiliating.

The thing Harry didn't anticipate was how difficult it would be to watch the team, his team, lose without him, knowing they would've stood a much better chance if he was up there with them. Not that Ginny didn't put up a good fight for a first-timer, and perhaps against a less seasoned Seeker she might've stood a chance. But Cedric wasn't Captain of the Hufflepuff team for nothing. That fact was of little comfort considering Gryffindor lost by over three-hundred points.

The crushing loss left Harry angry and bitter, with nowhere to direct those feelings. He couldn't retaliate on Umbridge, the truly blameworthy party, much as he wanted to. Nor did he begrudge Ginny taking his place, much as he wished he could.

Normally he'd take his frustration out on the opposing team, ranting and insulting them back in the common room with the rest of Gryffindor. Only now that enemy was his boyfriend. Thinking of him that way, as an enemy, even in jest, it felt wrong. It **was** wrong. Was this what all inter-house couples went through after a bad Quidditch match?

Considering what happened after his last Quidditch game, Harry was apprehensive about seeing Cedric. He didn't want another argument, although it seemed inevitable. After all, if they fought over something as trivial as Draco Malfoy… Although it went against all of his instincts, Harry stayed away from Cedric that evening. Not that it proved difficult. The older boy was no doubt celebrating his team's victory anyway. This was Hufflepuff's second consecutive win against Gryffindor. That made it doubly special to them.

His evasion tactics continued on into the next day. Their usual routine was to meet in the library do the weekend's homework together on Sundays. He certainly missed that, as he'd forgotten how laborious completing his assignments alone was. But it did keep his mind busy. Dinner arrived in no time. He expected to cross paths with Cedric in the Great Hall, and readied himself for it, yet it didn't happen. At first he thought Cedric might not have made it to dinner.

Then Harry caught sight of him at the Hufflepuff table, eating, not looking at the Gryffindor table. It was like November all over again! And without a single heated word being exchanged. How was that even possible?

Harry stared at the neighboring table until finally Cedric glanced up. Their eyes locked. He smiled, strained but honest, and gave a little wave. Harry smiled and nodded back. It was a marked change from the last time they did this. Cedric stood up from the table a minute later and walked out of the Great Hall. Harry debated catching up with him, to say… To say what? The match, the defeat, it was all too fresh still.

Instead, Harry finished his meal, quietly contemplating how much longer they would dodge each other, and if there was even a way to solve a problem they couldn't speak about.

O O O O O O O

In light of his personal life being so in flux, Harry was utterly unprepared for how much his public life changed Monday morning with the release of the March edition of _The Quibbler_. If he'd known there'd be such an overwhelming response to his interview, he might've kept better tabs on when it was coming out.

The outpouring of support was more than Harry ever expected, more than he could've even hoped for. By Tuesday, a new trend had taken over Hogwarts for those who believed Harry and Cedric's story. Popping up all over, on schoolbags and clothing and even on people's skin, were lightning bolts. Tiny zigzags that matched, to the best of the artist's ability, the twin curse scars that Harry and Cedric bore. Less permanent, perhaps, but nearly as meaningful. So meaningful that Umbridge, already furious over the article, was beside herself. It didn't take long for an Educational Decree to ban the symbol. That didn't stop it from being surreptitiously graffiti'ed onto walls and tapestries.

It was great and everything, fantastic even. The problem was that the one person Harry wanted to share this long-awaited moment in the spotlight with was the one person he wasn't talking to at the moment. Despite everything that was happening, things between them weren't suddenly all better. Maybe it should've but it didn't feel like they were.

With how swamped Harry was, students and teachers clamoring to offer their encouragement, he could hardly find a moment for himself, let alone for reconciling with his boyfriend. He went out of his way to a seldom-used boys' lavatory on his way to dinner for some privacy. At long last, after two days, he had a moment of peace.

Until a quiet voice behind him said, "Um, excuse me?"

Harry took in a breath to maintain his calm.

"Listen," he said, "I'll be happy to hear to whatever you have to say in a moment, but right now isn't really the best time."

"Oh, of course, I-I didn't mean t-to bother you," the other boy replied in a rush. "I'll, uh. I'll just. Wait. Til you're d-done."

Nodding, Harry attempted to go back about his business. Except he could feel this stranger's eyes on him. Watching him. Waiting. It was like someone stuck a cork in Harry's... Anyway, there was no going now. Luckily it wasn't an emergency. He zipped up and went to the sink.

"Now, how can I help you, er...?"

He looked at the boy in the mirror. He was handsome if small, dark-haired and olive-skinned. What surprised Harry was the flash of green and silver he caught on the boy's chest. Slytherin? Thus far, members of every house had shown their encouragement in some way or another. Every house, that is, except Slytherin. Harry hadn't expected any of them to come forward. It was the nature of his relationship with their house.

_Maybe this isn't encouragement after all,_ Harry thought, preparing himself for the worst. He became very mindful of where his wand was, stowed in the folds of his robes.

"Paul," the boy said. "My name is Paul."

"What can I do for you, Paul?" Harry asked. He folded his arms across his chest in an attempt to appear intimidating. Not hard, considering the smaller boy looked to be about thirteen.

"I-I-I j-just, I-I w-wanted to, to say..."

The stammer, teamed with the tie and the boy's anxious demeanor, triggered a memory.

"Hang on, I know you!" Harry said. "You were at the New Year's Eve Party last year, the one the Weasley twins hosted."

"Oh, y-you remember that?" Paul grimaced.

"Yeah, I do," said Harry. "They were completely out of order."

"I-I-I'm used to it," Paul shrugged. "Anyway, your boyfriend was real nice about it. I wanted to say something then, t-to thank him, but I was too nervous."

"You had more to be nervous about with Fred and George," Harry advised. "Cedric's about the nicest bloke you'll ever meet."

"No, I know. That's, er, that's **why** he made me so nervous." Paul's voice lowered almost to a whisper as his eyes glued themselves to the sink at Harry's right. "He… He's really cute."

Ah. So that was why this young Slytherin sought Harry out.

"Yes, he is," Harry grinned. "Then you're -?"

"Like you two?" Paul supplied. Harry nodded, remembering when he himself was too scared to say the word out loud. "Yeah, I am. I-I haven't told anyone that before. Only one other person knows."

"And who's that then?"

"His name is Danny," said Paul. "He's a Gryffindor, same as you, only a year below yours, like I am."

"You're fourteen?" Harry asked. He winced as he realized the astonishment in his tone may have been insulting.

"Almost fifteen, actually," Paul blushed. "In June, that is. I know, I'm small for my age. It's a miracle Danny ever even noticed me."

Harry racked his brains trying to place the boy that Paul was referring to. He didn't pay much attention to the students in years below him, apart from Ginny. And occasionally Colin Creevey, although Harry didn't so much pay him attention as be assaulted by him.

"I don't think I know him," Harry said. He led them over to the windowsill to sit. "Why don't you tell me about him, eh?"

"He's brilliant," said Paul. "Truly. Not at school, mind you. If he applied himself, sure, but… He never listens. I think he's still finding himself, y'know? I tell him, O.W.L.s are coming up next year, you're going to have to figure out what it is you want to do soon."

"You sound like my friend Hermione," Harry noted.

"Hermione Granger?" Paul asked. "She's not a bad person to emulate. Professor Burbage has a test done by her in Muggle Studies, she got over three-hundred percent."

"Burbage is still showing off that test?" Harry laughed. "Blimey. I'll be she doesn't mention Hermione is Muggle-born, either."

"No, not as such."

"Hang on, you take Muggle Studies? But aren't you…"

"Slytherin?" Paul offered. "Yeah, I get that a lot. And pure-blood, mostly. But my parents aren't like that. My dad was a Hufflepuff, but my mum was Slytherin like me. And I love my house, honestly, but I always get lumped in with people like -"

"People like Malfoy," said Harry, a rush of shame washing over him for checking where his wand was when he saw Paul's green-and-silver tie.

"Yeah. So I've never fit in there too well, and most people in the other houses don't talk to me 'coz of where I'm from. My first two years were a bit rough. Then I met Danny. It was at the start of last year, my third. I was being bullied by a couple of Gryffindors. And second years at that. Humiliating. But then Danny stepped in to defend me. 'Leave 'im alone,' he said. 'He's no Death Eater, he's just a student like the rest of us.' They balked at first, until Danny said they'd have to deal with him. They scampered right quick then.

"And I thought that'd be it, I'd never see him again. People had come to my defense before, but they never meant anything by it. And besides, I know Gryffindors love to start fights. I just figured… But he started seeking me out. Well, **then** I thought it was a prank. Only it wasn't. This - This kind, funny, brave boy wanted to be my friend. Merlin knows why. I certainly haven't got a clue."

"And when did you realize you were in love with him?" Harry prodded.

Paul looked away, turning pink. Harry thought he might bolt then, but instead the younger boy took a shaky breath and continued.

"It was at that party, actually. Danny's the one who made me go. I'd never been to anything like it, it's why I wore my school clothes. I, heh…" He rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "Like I said, I'd never been to something like that before, and I knew the Yule Ball was all fancy. Stupid, really."

"Not stupid," Harry assured him with a pat on the shoulder. "Trust me, I'm the biggest idiot I know when it comes to magic, raised by daft Muggles and all. You can't help what you don't know."

"S'pose," said Paul. "Anyway, I'd been… I guess the word you'd use is aware, that the way I felt about Danny was abnormal, for some time. I always just passed it off as admiration. Here was this great, popular guy taking an interest in me. And he looked so handsome that night. Like, really. And then at midnight… He grabbed my tie, and pulled me in, and…"

The pink deepened to a nice red as Paul trailed off, lost in his own memories. Another boy attempting to enter the bathroom took them both by surprise. Harry reacted quickly, withdrawing his wand to shut and lock the door before the intruder could enter. Paul swallowed.

"Um… What was I saying?"

"I think you were trying to tell me that Danny kissed you," Harry reminded him. "Sounds like you were a bit surprised."

"A bit?" Paul echoed. "I didn't speak to him for two weeks after that! Childish of me."

"Well, I suppose if you were scared, or confused," Harry said, thinking back to when he himself was both scared and confused about his feelings last winter.

"I guess," Paul conceded. "Feels pretty childish now, looking back."

"It always does."

"Turns out Danny's always known he was gay," Paul continued. "He hasn't told anyone yet. Except me, of course. And his parents. Me, I haven't even told my own yet. No one at school knows, though. Erm, apart from you now, that is."

"You don't have to tell him that, if you don't want."

"Are you kidding?" Paul scoffed. "He's been begging me for months to come out. He'll be thrilled when he hears I actually talked to one of you. You and your boyfriend, you're like his heroes. Both of ours."

"I - I don't know what to say," Harry stammered. "I'm honored that you'd say that, but we're not heroes, really. Lucky, maybe, to have survived Voldemort, but it wasn't all that heroic - "

"Oh, not because of You-Know-Who," said Paul. "It's great and everything, but I meant the two of you being out. Even after all that dragonshit in the _Daily Prophet_, you two have stuck it out. You've never worried what people thought or said about you both. What's that Muggle saying? 'You're here, you're gay, get away' - no, that isn't right…"

"I'm flattered, Paul, but -" Harry squirmed. "I don't think we're all you've built us up to be."

"Maybe not," Paul said. "I'm sure you two aren't perfect. Danny and I fight, and it took a while for him to convince me that's normal. But you and Cedric, you're still out, holding hands in the halls, kissing each other good night, no matter who's looking. I wish I could be that brave. I guess what I wanted to say was that you've made it easier to believe that someday I might be."

"Thank you, Paul," Harry said, finding when he spoke that there was a small lump in his throat. "I can honestly say that, of all the nice things everyone's said to me today, yours might mean the most to me."

"Thanks, Harry."

O O O O O O O

Later that night, Harry sat by the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room and reflected on recent events. While Ron was at a grueling (and in his own words pointless) Quidditch practice, Hermione was sitting opposite Harry, laboring away on homework. He had his own assignments to be done but he was willing to bet he could get away with some slacking this week. At least a day or two's worth.

Well, maybe not in Potions.

"Any more fan mail?" Hermione wondered as she worked.

"None since lunch," Harry told her. "Should I be worried that my popularity's waning already?"

"Could be it's just a backlog with the post," she posited. "I'm still not entire sure how that all works. You'll get plenty in the morning, I'm sure. Told you it was a good idea, that article."

"Yes, you were right," Harry yielded.

"Now you just need to stop being so stupid about Cedric…"

Biting back something harsher, Harry responded, "Excuse me?"

"This fight you've been having," Hermione elaborated, finally looking up from her work. "It's about Quidditch, isn't it? The game on Saturday? If you ask me -"

"I didn't."

" - you're both being rather silly about this. I know, I know, you love Quidditch and all that but, really, it is just a game."

Perhaps it was her saying his relationship problems boiled down to "being silly." Or maybe it was the continued blatant disrespect for Quidditch. Either way, Harry found his tact had run out.

"No offense, Hermione," he huffed, "but - why should I even take your advice?"

"What?" she blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean look at the shitty way you've been treating Ron all year!" Harry snapped. "I thought things might actually be getting better over Christmas, but since then they've only gotten worse!"

It felt good to get those feelings off his chest. At least it did until he noticed the tears streaming down Hermione's face.

"Oh - oh God, Hermione - I'm so sorry," Harry said, reaching across to pat her shoulder awkwardly.

"Oh, don't be, you're right," she said in a sob. "You're absolutely right. I've been horrible to him. I don't know what I'm doing, Harry. I care about Ron, very much. Even when he annoys me, it's in such a way that… But he's still so immature sometimes! Like how mental he is over this whole Quidditch thing. Not that - I don't mean to diminish the importance of the game to all of you, I swear, but look at how he reacts to losing a game! You'd think he'd killed someone. It's a bit much.

"And what happens if we do go out and it's awful because we weren't ready or - or we're not compatible or something like that, and then we break up and everything's ruined? What, do we go back to the way things were two years ago, when he and I couldn't be in the same room together? Or like him and you and the Goblet of Fire? I don't know that our friendships can survive something like that, Harry, not again."

"These are all really good points, Hermione," said Harry. "Erm, why don't you talk about them with Ron?"

"Oh, sure," she chortled. "I'll go do that as soon as you talk to Cedric about your deepest insecurities about your relationship."

"Okay, 'nother good point," Harry muttered. "Still, it's no excuse for everything."

"I know it's not," Hermione agreed with a sniffle. "To be honest, it's not just him being too immature that I'm worried about. All this romantic stuff, it's so stressful. I didn't have these problems with Viktor. Probably because I didn't truly fancy him. At least not entirely. I-I don't know if I'm quite ready for it, either. I mean, all of this… I often wonder how you manage it."

"Oh, gee, thanks."

"I didn't mean it like -"

"No, I know," said Harry. "A lot of it's Cedric, I suppose. He's the level-headed one, betweein the two of us. The mature one. Blimey, I make it sound like he's my love-tutor or something. Sort of accurate, though."

Saying it out loud only made Harry feel guiltier about the prolonged silence between the two of them. Cedric was always so patient and understanding, from the very beginning. Now Harry repaid that kindness by shutting him out after a bad Quidditch loss.

"Yeah, but I don't mean just that," Hermione said, dabbing her eyes with a tissue she conjured. "The worrying-about-the-future stuff. It must be hard on you, what with Cedric graduating at the end of the year, and wondering how that'll change things between you. I guess that's why I say it's stupid to bicker over something like that. Because I don't want to see you waste the time you're both still here, you know?"

No, Harry didn't know. Because he never thought about it. Sure, he knew Cedric would be graduating at the end of the year, but that always seemed so far away, with what would come after even further. Now that he did reflect on it, the school year would end in a little over four months. More time had passed since it began than was left. How much harder was it going to be to simply see one another face to face once September rolled back around?

He **was** being stupid. Harry could see that now. The time they still had together was precious, and not to be spent squabbling over things like Quidditch. He should've learned that lesson last June, when he nearly lost Cedric for good. No matter how much he loved the game, he loved Cedric more.

O O O O O O O

By the time Harry came to his revelation, it was already after curfew. This meant he had to wait for morning to speak with Cedric. He planned to, right as soon as he was done eating breakfast, and he would have if Cedric hadn't come and found him with a piece of toast shoved halfway into his mouth.

"Hello," he said.

"Hey!" said Harry, inadvertently spraying a bit of breadcrumb in the process.

"Can we talk?" Cedric asked.

"Of course we can,." He dropped the remaining toast and rose from the table. As he followed Cedric out to the entrance hall, he told him, "I was going to come find you."

"No need now," Cedric replied with an uneasy smile.

"Listen, these last few days," Harry said, "with us not talking and all, because - well, because -"

"Yes, I know," Cedric interjected. "Because."

"Well, it was stupid of me," admitted Harry. "Avoiding you like that, it was…"

"I wasn't much better," Cedric shrugged. "Let's put the whole thing behind us then, shall we?"

"I'd like that."

There was a brief hesitation, and then a kiss. As always, Cedric's lips restored most of Harry's confidence. It didn't wash the bad weekend away entirely, but it did remove the lingering discomfort between them.

"So, that article, eh?" Harry said. "Who would've thought we'd make lightning bolt scars a trend?"

"On that subject," Cedric said, brandishing an envelope he pulled from his pocket, "I have some news. I got a letter today. From my father."

"Ohh, no," Harry groaned. "He's gone off on you about it, hasn't he?"

"The opposite, actually," Cedric grinned. "He said doing the interview took a lot of courage. Sticking with the truth, no matter what anyone thinks or says about me, just proves that I'm my own man now, and he couldn't be prouder. Some co-worker mouthed off about it to him, calling me a liar and a queer, and Dad punched him!"

"Really?" Harry laughed.

"Yeah! Probably not the best idea, but who cares? Plus, "Cedric brandished something shiny he pulled from his pocket, "he sent me this, with his apologies for taking it."

It was Cedric's old watch, the one his father took back last June when he saw Harry and Cedric asleep together in the hospital wing.

"That's brilliant!" Harry exclaimed.

"I'll be keeping the pocket watch you gave me, naturally."

"Oh you'd better be," Harry said, giving him a playful swat, which he then followed up with a great big hug. "I'm so happy for you, Cedric."

"Me too," said Cedric. "This whole thing, I'm so glad we did it. I think it's really made a difference, speaking up and all."

"Maybe even more than we know," Harry replied.

"How d'you mean that?" Cedric asked, furrowing his brow in bemusement.

Taking Cedric's hand, Harry answered, "Walk me to class."

And as they walked, Harry told Cedric all about his new friend and admirer, the Slytherin boy named Paul.

**END NOTES:** I wanted to save this until the 11th, for 11/11/11, but sadly I'll be without internet access. Because oh yeah, that's right - _I'M GETTING MARRIED IN TWO DAYS!_ Yep! Thursday the 10th at 5PM, EST, at the Wedding Pavilion in Disney World! :D  
Very exciting, very nerve-wrecking. Seriously, there's still so much to do and we leave in, um, an hour. I'm taking time out of the frenzy to make sure I post this! (The things I do for you people… :P just kidding!)  
In other news, I have a tumblr! You can find at h t t p : / / misterkevo . tumblr . c o m if anyone wants to follow me! ALSO: part of what's slowed down my updates is I'm writing a book! I'll be self-publishing on the Amazon Kindle store if ya'll are interested. I'll updated you guys when there's news.  
Wish me luck, everyone! Love you all! -kevo


	11. Trouble is a Friend

**Title:** Sound of the Revolution, Chapter 11  
**Author:** kevo  
**Pairing:** Harry + Cedric.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** I do not claim ownership to these characters or the series they're from.  
**Summary:** In his fifth year, Harry faces ostracism with boyfriend Cedric for coming out and for declaring Voldemort has returned. (Order of the Phoenix canon re-write.)  
**Author's Note:** That's right, this story is back! For Harry's birthday, I decided this chapter was finally read to post. A very special thanks to one of my dearest friends, Tim, for his help in writing a crucial scene. I doubt I would've finished this chapter without him. I just hope it's still got readers left…

The Love So Green Collection

Playlist #2:

sound of the revolution

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

"Trouble is a Friend"

Sadly, not everything in the aftermath of the _Quibbler_ article was rosy and bright. For as many people came out in support of Harry and Cedric, there were still a number of students against them who saw the interview as a desperate bid for attention.

And that wasn't all. A week after the article came out, Umbridge enacted her own form of revenge for the boys' rebellious deeds.

It started as a typical Tuesday morning for Harry: wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, walk to class with his boyfriend. They had just reached that last bit and were exiting the Great Hall, hand in hand, when they were stopped by a familiar "hem, hem" at the door. The toad-like professor appeared oddly pleased in light of recent events. It made Harry nervous, his breakfast turning over in his stomach.

"Good morning, Professor," Harry greeted her cautiously.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter," Umbridge replied. "I'm afraid it's my duty to serve both you and Mr. Diggory with detention for your behavior."

Harry and Cedric exchanged an anxious look. They'd been expecting something like this, but didn't think she would take so long.

"But Professor, we weren't breaking any rules when we gave that interview," Cedric argued. "I double and triple checked. There was nothing in the rules at the time –"

"I'm perfectly aware, Mr. Diggory," she interrupted, a tiny, angry crack breaking through her mask of sweetness. "I'm speaking of your current behavior."

The boys exchanged another look, this time of bafflement.

"But we aren't doing anything," Harry said slowly.

"Oh, I beg to differ, Mr. Potter," Umbridge beamed. "Or rather, the latest Educational Decree does."

She brandished a piece of parchment like it was a shield. The page read:

- BY ORDER OF -

**The High Inquisitor of Hogwarts**

_Inappropriate physical conduct between students is strictly prohibited. (The Hogwarts High Inquisitor shall be the arbiter of what is to be deemed "inappropriate.")_

Forget a rolling breakfast. As Harry took in what he was seeing, he felt as if his stomach had dropped right down to his shoes. She couldn't possibly do this. There was no way. She didn't have the right.

"That's not –"

He stopped himself. Umbridge's eyes gleamed, waiting for Harry to finish that sentence, but he refused. He wouldn't, not in front of that monster. It was what she wanted; another excuse to punish him, or at least mock his inability to fight her power. She shouldn't have the right. But she did. She was waving the proof of it right in Harry's face.

"We're very sorry, Professor," Cedric filled in for him. His hand unclenched from Harry's, and Harry reluctantly released as well. "We weren't aware of the latest, er, decree. It won't happen again, I promise."

"I'm afraid that's not good enough, Mr. Diggory," Umbridge said in a tone so mirthful it was practically a giggle. "As a prefect, it is your duty to be aware of these things. No, I believe you'll just have to sit another round of detentions for this infraction. Certainly you understand the bind I'm in."

Harry wanted to scream. There was no bind. It was her own damned rule. She could do whatever she pleased. But then, she was already doing what she pleased, and they all knew it.

"Yes, Professor," Cedric said, his tone emotionless. "Of course, Professor."

Umbridge's eyes narrowed in disappointment, no doubt wishing the boys would throw more of a fit over this. She said nothing, though. She'd gotten what she wanted, and there was nothing they could do about it.

By lunchtime, word of the latest Educational Decree had spread throughout the school. The number of detentions had skyrocketed because of it. Umbridge was more lenient on boy-girl pairings, naturally, but even those displays of affection were suddenly receiving punishment that before barely warranted a verbal warning.

"You must admit, it was clever of her to wait," noted Ron as they ate. "If she'd done it right after, it would've been obvious why."

"It's still obvious," Harry replied flatly. "Everyone knows why she did it."

"Oh, yeah," Ron frowned. "I suppose that's true…"

"Not everyone," argued Hermione. "There are plenty of students who don't think this is your fault, Harry. She's – she's just awful. And _**that**_ is something everyone knows."

Though Harry wasn't entirely mollified by Hermione's logic, he grumbled in agreement and focused on scarfing down his lunch.

O

The boys did a decent job of keeping out of Umbridge's way after the latest Educational Decree was issued. They continued spending time together when they could, walking to classes and such, with one new and very strict caveat: no touching.

It was almost like Harry's fourth year all over again, when their relationship was such a secret that no one even suspected they were friends, let alone boyfriends. They could hardly risk being seen together then. Only now they no longer had their private retreat in the Room of Requirement to make up for things. And there was no sneaking into the prefects' bathroom under the watchful eye of the High Inquisitor either.

Keeping their interactions innocent wasn't actually so hard, with how busy Harry and Cedric were preparing for the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s respectively. Most of the time they devoted to making out and more would've been replaced with course work eventually anyway, regardless of any Educational Decree. Even so, the long hours they spent together doing nothing more than studying, unable to so much as hold hands for fear of being punished, were beyond frustrating. Now that they knew what it was like to be affectionate in public, it was harder to go without. But, as Cedric often reminded Harry, it was better than not having each other at all.

"And don't forget," Cedric whispered furtively during one of their homework dates, "we still have the D.A. What better way to get our revenge than practicing defense right under her nose?"

He had a point, it did help. And Dumbledore's Army continued to thrive. The _Quibbler_ article, followed by the vicious public termination of Professor Trelawney, had driven recruitment way up. Even Harry's recently revealed admirer, Paul, started showing up with his boyfriend, Danny. It took the group a while to begrudgingly accept their first Slytherin member, and hardly any were more than just tolerant of him.

It had almost been enough to drive the skittish boy out, until one meeting a few weeks after they joined. Harry was doing his rounds, observing the students as they practiced their latest jinx, when he passed the young couple's corner and overheard them arguing.

"They don't trust me," Harry heard Paul grumble. "And they never will. It was a bad idea to try and join."

"That's dragonshit," Danny hissed angrily. "You have just as much a right to be here as any of them."

"Everything all right?" Harry interrupted.

"No," said Danny. His arms folded over his chest as he glared around at the other students. "Nobody would pair off with Paul. _**Again**_."

"Danny, it's fine," Paul winced. "Don't worry about it, Harry. It's – Like I said, it's fine. I just won't come back anymore. I should be focusing more on my studies anyway."

Harry frowned at this. He was reminded of the ordeal he and Cedric went through at Madame Puddifoot's, when several patrons harassed them for being different. Puddifoot hadn't tolerated that behavior, and she didn't even know the boys. Harry couldn't stand by and let this treatment continue.

He pulled the whistle out of his pocket and blew. Everyone froze, and not just those who'd been hit with the Impediment Jinx they were practicing. Harry took to the center of the room, hands folded behind his back.

"It has come to my attention," he said, "that some of you still have a problem with one of our latest newcomers. It was my understanding that we all came here for the same reason: to learn proper Defense Against the Dark Arts in a safe and friendly environment."

A few students made disapproving faces, but the only one who responded out loud was Zacharius Smith with, "But he's a Slytherin,"

"Yeah, and you're supposed to be a Hufflepuff," Cedric shot back. "Where's your patience? Your tolerance?"

"Believe me," said Harry, "I understand where you're coming from. I'm embarrassed to admit it but, until recently, I probably would've behaved the same way. You have to remember that this sort of prejudice is exactly what people like Umbridge, and even Voldemort himself, will prey on. And it's exactly what we need to be fighting."

"Also," Hermione chimed in, "it's worth noting that, if it didn't have its merits and traits worth valuing, the Hogwarts founders probably would've gotten rid of Slytherin House after Salazar left."

"Resourceful, cunning, ambitious," Cedric listed. "These aren't terrible traits to have. And yes, a great number of Slytherins are purebloods, but that doesn't make them all Death Eaters. Heck, Merlin was even one."

Harry checked his watch.

"All right," he said, "it's getting late. Now's as good a time as any to wrap up. Uhh, we'll be in touch about the next meeting."

The students filed out, all pointedly avoiding eye contact with both Harry and Paul.

"I hope that was okay," Harry said, realizing belatedly that he may have overstepped his bounds.

"Are you kidding?" Danny grinned. "It was badass."

"It was…" Paul held his breath a moment, then nodded, a grin similar to Danny's spreading across his face. "Yeah. Total badass."

Other than this minor D.A. drama, things were quiet for a couple of weeks. Quiet enough that they shouldn't have been surprised when Umbridge's wrath came down upon them once more.

It was after a particularly grueling Occlumency lesson. Cedric was waiting, like always, just outside Snape's office to walk Harry back up to Gryffindor Tower.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather I take you to the hospital wing?" he asked, studying Harry's pale face.

"I'm fine," Harry insisted with one small shake of his head. A proper shake was too painful at the moment. "I just need to rest."

"All right," Cedric huffed. "But if you change your mind –"

"Hem, hem."

The sound echoed through the abandoned dungeons, sending a sharp stab through Harry's already-sensitive brain. They turned to find her standing primly at the bottom of the stairs leading back up to the entrance hall. One corner of her mouth was quivering on the edge of becoming a smirk.

"G-good evening, Professor," Cedric greeted her.

"Out for a walk, are we, dears?" she replied.

"Oh! No, nothing like that, Professor, Harry here was –"

"Rule-breaking again," Umbridge interrupted. "Yes, I see that. I'm sure you're both aware of our school's policy on loitering."

"Well, yes, Professor," Cedric conceded, "we know that, we were simply –"

"There's nothing simple about it, Mr. Diggory," Umbridge interrupted, shaking her head slowly, as though she was actually disappointed rather than delighted. "You and Mr. Potter seem determined to challenge me at every turn. It's as though you have no desire to correct your abhorrent behavior. It saddens me, it truly does. And I'm afraid I have no choice but to give y-"

"Professor Umbridge."

All heads whipped around, back toward the dungeons, to find Professor Snape. He surveyed the situation warily, glancing from Umbridge to Cedric to Harry and back to Umbridge once more. He quirked an eyebrow.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

"No, Severus, not at all," said Umbridge. "I was simply dealing with this pair of troublemakers. It seems they feel they are above Hogwarts's standards of behavior, and are entitled to wandering the corridors at all hours of the night."

"Ah," Snape sneered. "I see."

For a moment, he was silent. Then, with the subtlest of eye rolls and a tiny sigh, Snape continued.

"However," he said slowly, as though it pained him to do so, "I regret to inform you that, for once, Potter's behavior is perfectly in-bounds. He's been taking Remedial Potions. The only time slot I have available for the lessons runs past curfew. This has all been cleared by the headmaster, I assure you."

Umbridge's jaw set tightly, as though she was steeling herself against throwing a temper tantrum. Harry did his best to suppress a smile.

"Well," she said. "That accounts for Potter. Diggory, on the other hand –"

"– is seeing Potter back to his room," said Snape. "As you yourself pointed out, the boy is something of a notorious rule-breaker. I thought it best to have a prefect escort him. Diggory is an exemplary student, despite his… choice of cohorts."

"They are more than mere cohorts, as I'm sure you're well aware, Severus," Umbridge gritted out. "I shall have to speak to Dumbledore about these Remedial Potions lessons. In the meantime, I'll have to insist that you see the boy back to his room yourself."

Though his eyes narrowed to tiny slits, Snape's tone was completely civil when he said, "Of course."

He swept up the hall, muttering a snide "come, Potter" without halting. Harry and Cedric quickly followed, careful not to look at Umbridge as they passed. They both knew she would be apoplectic and feared further inciting her rage. When they reached the entrance hall, Snape continued up the grand staircase without a word.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, all right?"

Harry looked back and saw that Cedric was standing at the ground floor, two steps below him.

Oh. Right. The Hufflepuff dormitory was down by the kitchens. There was no reason he would follow them all the way up to the seventh floor with Snape there. Everything had happened so fast, Harry didn't even realize this at first.

"Yeah, sure," Harry replied. "Tomorrow."

"Professor Snape," Cedric called up the stairs. Snape paused, looking back over his shoulder. "Thank you."

The potions master gave a curt nod and continued on his way.

"Hurry up, Potter," he called behind him.

"We'll talk tomorrow," Cedric said. "Go on."

Hating that they had to part ways so quickly, and annoyed at Snape despite his save, Harry nodded and hurried after the rapidly retreating professor.

O

Rather than let Umbridge's continued attempts at revenge get to him, Harry took Cedric's advice and focused his attention on his best chance for undermining her: Dumbledore's Army.

It was actually Ron, of all people, who brought up the idea of Patronuses. Inadvertently, of course, but it still counted for something. They were in the Gryffindor common room discussing future lesson plans for the D.A. when the conversation turned to the war effort. They had been discussing the dementors' involvement in January's Azkaban outbreak one afternoon and whether they would ultimately ally themselves with Voldemort.

"It's too bad you can't do the Patronus Charm in D.A.," Ron quipped, only half paying attention as he tried enchanting poorly-folded paper birds to make them fly. "Sounds like we'll be needing them soon."

Slowly, silently, Hermione's brow creased in thought.

"Why not?"

"Hm?" said Harry as a paper bird exploded. "Why not what?"

"Why can't we do the Patronus Charm?"

"Uhh, because it's impossible?" Harry offered. "Most adults –"

"Yes, I know, many qualified witches and wizards have trouble with it but, Harry – what if some of them got it?" Her eyes were glimmering with excitement now. "Can you imagine what an accomplishment that would be? If we could get students to produce even an incorporeal Patronus, it'd still be leaps and bounds beyond any results Umbridge has gotten this year!"

Seeing there would be no talking her down from this, Harry promised to discuss the idea with Cedric. He hoped the older boy would stand a better chance of calming Hermione down. What he hadn't expected was for Cedric to be on her side.

"I'm not saying I'm on her side," Cedric argued. "I'm only saying it's worth trying."

"What if no one gets it?" Harry frowned. "Yeah, I've been doing it for two years now, but that was different. The situation was different. I needed to do it in order to survive."

"You're absolutely right," said Cedric. "The situation was different. _**You**_ are different. You're special, Harry. It's what's made you such a great teacher thus far. You know what this reminds me of? When Hermione suggested starting the D.A. in the first place. You said you can't teach someone what it's like to face death, and yet look how well you've done! This whole thing's been one great big experiment. It's a miracle we've gotten this far. Why shouldn't we reach a little further?"

When asked later, Harry would only ever say his reason for agreeing to do the Patronus Charm was that he had no other lesson planned. In truth, his friends' reasoning struck a chord with Harry.

It is kind of fun to do the impossible.

Though the announcement of what they'd be doing that evening earned several skeptical looks, no one fought Harry on it. He carefully described the process for casting charm, dredging up every detail he could recall of his lessons with Professor Lupin. Had he realized it was going to be one of the nights where Cedric would be delayed by prefect patrol, he might've pushed the lesson to another night, but it was too late for that now. Everyone seemed to grasp the concept anyway.

Following a brief demonstration of the charm itself, Harry had everyone split up into small teams to work together on it while he observed.

"Hey Harry," called Dean as Harry passed by, "look who I brought."

At Dean's side was a nervous-looking Seamus. Harry could only have been more surprised if it was Draco Malfoy.

"Glad to see you finally made it," Harry told him.

"Yeah, well, Dean talked it up," replied Seamus. His sheepish smile turned into a scowl as he threw in, "Never mentioned you had a bloody Slytherin here."

"He has just as much a right to be here as anyone else," Harry said patiently. "There are plenty of Slytherins who're unhappy with the way Umbridge does things."

"And plenty more that're on her side," Seamus countered. "All I'm saying is you'd better keep an eye on that one."

"Don't worry, Seamus. I'm keeping an eye on everyone."

Suddenly, something large and silver bounded past them. It stopped and looked back, as if it wanted to pose for all the students who were gawking at it. Admittedly, even Harry was one of them. It had only been twenty minutes and someone already had a fully-corporeal Patronus. The silver lion threw back its head and roared.

"Whoa! Check that thing out!" said Dean.

"Now that's a Patronus!" Seamus grinned. "A Gryffindor lion if I ever saw one."

"A-actually…"

The hulking Patronus sauntered back across the room to its owner. Paul was smiling shyly. Danny, on the other hand, was openly beaming at his timid boyfriend.

"Actually," said Danny, "it's a Slytherin lion."

The crowd gaped. Lavender Brown even gasped.

"Amazing work, Paul," Harry marveled. "Absolutely amazing. Better than I ever did."

"Really?" Paul squeaked.

"Well, it helps that there's not an actual dementor here," Harry reasoned. "Never forget: anything we do here will be infinitely more difficult in a real life-or-death situation." He smiled. "But I'm still very impressed."

Of all the praise he had doled out over the months of D.A. meetings, Harry never told someone he was impressed by their work before. It had a definite effect on the group, who were all whispering loudly about it to one another. Some were even slinking over to join Paul's practice team.

Suddenly, the door to the Room of Requirement slammed open and shut with a loud bang. The crowd parted to let the newcomer through. It was Cedric, looking winded and frantic. Harry rushed toward him, grasping Cedric's arm in concern.

"Cedric, what's wrong?"

"Was on my way here," Cedric gasped. "Dobby, he – he warned me. Umbridge. She's coming, Harry. She knows about all this and she's coming for us!"

It would've been easy to panic. Harry was no less terrified by Cedric's news than any of the others. If anything, he had even more reason to fear Umbridge. He could have shoved his way past everyone else and bolted down the seventh floor corridor as fast as his legs would carry him. And yet he couldn't. He was responsible for the members of Dumbledore's Army, most of who were staring at him now in wide-eyed fear.

"Okay," said Harry. Then, more loudly, "Okay, we need to all get out of here as quickly as possible! Split into small groups of no more than four, stick together!"

"Don't all run back to your houses," Cedric threw in. "It's still before curfew."

"Right, good point," Harry agreed. "You need only to get as far as the library or the Owlery, especially you Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. Even the lavatory will do. Just get to any approved location that's nearby."

There was a moment, a split-second after Harry stopped speaking, where no one moved. Then everyone began moving all at once. It was not at all orderly. Harry mentally chastised himself for not thinking to do evacuation drills before now, for being naïve enough to truly believe they could never be caught.

"Make sure to try and blend!" Cedric warned the departing students. "They'll be looking for signs that you've just ran in!"

Harry grabbed Cedric by the shoulder.

"Help them," he ordered.

"What are you going to do?"

"Don't worry about me," Harry insisted. He gave Cedric a quick and desperate kiss before shoving him off after the others. "Go! Hurry, go!"

Without hesitation, Cedric darted off among the other students.

Harry knew exactly what he needed to do. And it wasn't going to be easy. He watched as the other members of the D.A. all fled from the Room of Requirement. They would never be able to meet again. He looked around the Room, wondering if he'd ever be able to come back. But this was no time to be nostalgic. Once the others were gone, Harry left too, closing the door behind him.

He went to the right, moving more slowly than he would if he was truly attempting to evade capture but not so much that it would be obvious. His efforts proved fruitful when Malfoy hit him with a Trip Jinx from the alcove where he was hiding. Umbridge was aglow with victory when Malfoy turned him over to her. She gave orders to keep searching for others but, as Harry had hoped, most of the fight was out of her. The toad had already caught her prize.

His relief was short-lived. Once she dragged him to the headmaster's office, Umbridge revealed the source that tipped her off to the D.A.'s existence. Worse even than that, Marietta Edgecombe had implicated both Harry _**and**_ Cedric as the ringleaders of the whole thing.

Harry's mind began to race at this. Clearly Cedric hadn't been caught, or he'd be right there with him. But if Umbridge believed Marietta, wouldn't she drag him in anyway? Perhaps she was only after Harry, and counted this a strong enough victory to let Cedric go. That sounded rather magnanimous for Dolores Umbridge, but what else was he to think?

Then Dumbledore said he was the one who told Harry and Cedric to create Dumbledore's Army.

After that, everything went straight to hell.

The next morning, rumors were already flying by the time Harry woke up. When you attend school in a castle where the portraits are notorious for gossip, it's bound to happen. And while the exact details were blurry, the main point came through loud and clear: Dumbledore had fled school grounds. The headmaster was gone.

He, Ron, Hermione, and Cedric met down by the Black Lake. He filled them all in on the complete details of what happened in the headmaster's office. It was just as well that they skipped breakfast, because the story didn't leave any of them with much of an appetite.

"We got everyone away, at least," said Cedric. "Nobody got caught and they didn't get the list of members. Doesn't necessarily mean they're all safe, but it's something. Ginny was a great help, I probably would've been caught more than once if she didn't have my back."

"Except Umbridge stills knows you were a part of it," Ron reminded him. "She'll be coming for you."

"Thanks, Ron, that helps," frowned Harry.

"Nothing I can do but wait, I suppose," Cedric shrugged. "I still don't understand what happened to Marietta's face, though. That awful jinx. Maybe it had something to do with the Room of Requirement…"

"Oh," Hermione said, a hint of smugness crossing her face. "Actually, that's a little something I did."

"What do you mean?" asked Cedric.

"It was the parchment we all signed," she explained. "The roster for the D.A. It was cursed. Anyone who signed it and reported us would… Well. You saw what happened."

"That's brilliant," Ron crowed.

But Cedric seemed far less enthused about this revelation.

"I can't believe you would do something like that," he said.

"Why not?" Hermione snapped. "You've said it yourself, Cedric: we're at war."

"Except we're not at war," Cedric snapped back. "_**We**_ are not at war. _**We**_ are at school. What you did was petty."

"I did what I had to do," said Hermione. "To protect this group, to protect all of us."

"You didn't protect us! Your silly little curse didn't stop Marietta from tattling, all it did was punish her for it."

"Maybe she deserved to be punished," Ron muttered.

"Oh, so are we going to start going after people who don't agree with us now?" Cedric demanded. "Are we as bad as Voldemort?"

"That's enough," Harry declared firmly. "What's done is done. Come on, let's get back inside, it'll be time for class soon."

They trudged back up to the castle all together, but Cedric held Harry back at the entrance for a moment to speak with him privately.

"You think I'm being too sensitive again, don't you?" he asked, tucking his arms over his chest. "About Hermione and Marietta."

Harry thought carefully before answering. He didn't want another argument like last November.

In truth, Harry did feel Hermione's actions were justified. Marietta made her choice. If she hadn't betrayed the group, Marietta's face would still be fine. Perhaps it was a bit ruthless, but two dozen of her fellow students were now in trouble (possibly even in danger, knowing Umbridge) because of what she did.

He couldn't help comparing Marietta to Peter Pettigrew in his mind. The rat still hadn't paid for selling out his best friends and possibly never would. If there was one thing Harry couldn't forgive, it was betrayal. No, Marietta got what she deserved.

"It doesn't matter what I think, Cedric," Harry muttered. "It's done. Now we have to deal with the consequences."

While this answer didn't appear to satisfy the Hufflepuff, he nodded anyway and followed Harry back into the school.

The consequences of their involvement in Dumbledore's Army did not take very long to make themselves known. In fact, it was only lunchtime when the new headmistress summoned Harry to her office for an interrogation. Although he knew he would never fold under her scrutiny, he was grateful for the Weasleys' fireworks that made her excuse him prematurely. He still hadn't fully recovered from the night before.

All he wanted to do when he finally made it to the Gryffindor common room that night with Ron and Hermione was relax. He was about to have a seat when someone called out his name. It was George Weasley, of all people. He and Fred were surrounded by students inquiring about their Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-Bangs.

"Cedric's looking for you," he called around the gathered crowd of eager patrons. "He wanted you to meet him in the library."

"And you're telling me this when?"

"I'm telling you now," George replied, "the first time I've seen you since. I'm not your owl."

Sighing heavily, Harry dropped his book bag off with Ron and Hermione before racing off toward the library, dodging Fred and George's whirling fireworks all the way. Cedric was still there, at a table on his own in a far back corner.

"Sorry," Harry said immediately as he dropped into the chair next to Cedric's. "I didn't get your message 'til just a few minutes ago."

"S'okay."

"Bizarre day," said Harry. "Umbridge called me into her office. She wanted to ask me about Dumbledore. I think she tried to use a truth potion on me. Or poison, maybe, I dunno. I didn't drink it."

For the first time since entering the library, Harry really looked at his boyfriend. The older boy was pale, his eyes a little puffy, like he'd been crying but stopped a while ago.

"…Cedric?"

"Umbridge called me in, too," said Cedric. "Professor Sprout was there waiting when I arrived. Sh-she, um. She took away my badge. Umbridge, she… I'm not a prefect anymore."

"What!?"

"Yeah. Sprout tried to defend me, but Umbridge wasn't having any of it. She said this alone was enough to strip me of my title, but then when you add in the bad name I've been making for myself lately, with the trial last summer and my –" He gave a short, dry laugh. "My inappropriate relations."

"Meaning me?"

"Yeah, Harry. Meaning you."

It took a long moment for the whole thing sink in, after which Harry said, "This is my fault."

"It's not," Cedric insisted, though by the sound of it he wished it was. "I talked you into doing Dumbledore's Army. I knew the risks. Professor Sprout was on my side. That meant a lot. But then she started saying I probably wasn't the only prefect in the club and I-I couldn't let her do that. I said I was the oldest of them, it was my job to set an example, I'll take the blame."

He laughed again, a sort of 'puh' sound.

"Umbridge really ate that bit up. Said she was glad I'm realizing that my actions have consequences and that I deserve to be punished."

That sentiment coming from Umbridge was sickeningly memorable.

"So now what?" Harry asked.

"Now nothing," replied Cedric. "I'm not a prefect anymore. Unless Dumbledore comes back, there's no contesting it. As long as Umbridge is in charge…"

Harry hesitated half a second before stroking Cedric's arm comfortingly, half-afraid Umbridge would pop up out of nowhere and threaten expulsion for the lewd public conduct. But she had a lot in her cauldron, with the Wildfire Whiz-Bangs running amok across the campus. He even risked leaning in for a few kisses that Cedric returned hungrily before pulling back, his hand resting gently on Cedric's cheek.

"I am so sorry this happened," Harry said.

Cedric shrugged.

"I'll be okay. It's only a title."

"But you earned that title," Harry argued, barely holding back from adding, J_ust like you earned Head Boy_.

Add it to the lists of things he'd cost Cedric by being in his life. That list seemed to be growing day by day.

"Stop that," said Cedric. "Don't – just stop, I know what you're thinking, this wasn't your fault."

"Of course it is," Harry replied. "If it wasn't for me –"

"I talked you into it, Harry! I'm the one who convinced you Dumbledore's Army was a good idea, not the other way around. I always knew what might happen if we got caught. I always knew it could come to this. I simply hoped it wouldn't. But I don't hold you responsible, and you shouldn't hold yourself responsible either."

Nodding like he agreed, Harry pushed those thoughts from his mind for the time being. Cedric needed him. That was more important.

Later, after he'd been walked back to his dormitory and they said their goodbyes, Harry sat up in his four-poster bed. Watching fireworks dance across the school grounds, he reflected on the preceding twenty-four hours. Despite Cedric's protests, he couldn't help feeling awful. Mrs. Diggory's words from last October were ringing in his ears. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps Cedric would be better off without Harry.

He wondered if Cedric would ever come to regret the choice he made to stand by Harry's side, and what Harry himself would do if that day ever came.

**END NOTES: **I know, I know. It's been a while. A _**long **_while. I really am quite remorseful for that. Life and other things really got in the way for a while.  
On the plus side, I'm almost finished with my book! Or mine and my husband's, I should say, since we're writing partners. Currently writing Chapter 20 of 22. We're immensely proud of it and can't wait until we're able to share it. Hopefully some of you will be interested in it!  
Chapter 12 of this is at least halfway done. Maybe a bit more. It won't be up soon, but likely in the next couple of months.  
To those of you who have waited patiently (and even those who were not so patient) for this story to update: thank you. Your continued support has always and will always mean the world to me.  
So thanks for sticking around :) -kevo


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